There are few movies that can match the magnificence of the new film &#8220Brokeback Mountain,” which opens in Bowling Green this week after a platform release over the past six weeks.

Director Ang Lee has taken Annie Proulx’s short story about forbidden love and crafted an emotionally compelling film featuring some breakout performances by Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams.

&#8220Brokeback Mountain” tells the story of Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal), a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy who meet in the summer of 1963 herding sheep in Wyoming. Ennis and Jack’s relationship becomes intimate, although Ennis is more reluctant to continue the tryst – content to his life and marry his high school sweetheart Alma (Williams).

Several years pass before Jack pays Ennis a visit and the relationship picks up again, just as passionate as the initial encounter.

While the story has made it easy to label &#8220Mountain” as &#8220the gay cowboy movie” (and I’ll admit I have referred to it as that to friends and co-workers), it is much more. This is a film that deals frankly with the regrets we sometimes make in life and the pain and anguish it can cause to everyone involved.

Ledger hits all the right notes as Ennis, delivering a quiet performance filled with heartache and sorrow. Gyllenhaal is very good as Jack and Anne Hathaway shatters her nice girl image from &#8220The Princess Diaries” with a complex performance as Jack’s wife, Lureen.

But it is Williams who delivers perhaps the best performance. Her work as Alma is heartbreaking and very sympathetic. I really felt her pain as she slowly watches her marriage crumble.

&#8220Brokeback Mountain” isn’t a flawless film. Even at nearly 2 1/2 hours, there are times when &#8220Mountain” seems to rush the story, going from point A to point C without connecting through point B. Still, it is a minor criticism for a film as emotionally involving and compelling as &#8220Brokeback Mountain.”

So much in fact that when the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday morning, &#8220Brokeback Mountain” will – and deserves to – be among the leaders in nominations.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is &#8220The Aristocrats” (B), a fascinating documentary that is more than a one-joke movie; it’s a film that really takes its audience inside the minds of comedians, showing the essence of comedy and improvisation.

The premise of &#8220The Aristocrats” is simple – more than 100 comedians discuss what is widely considered the world’s dirtiest joke, while giving their own version of said joke.

The brilliance of the joke is that there is a starting point and a punch line, but the buildup is completely up to the comedian telling the joke, which allows the person to interject their own personality in the story.

The results are not just intriguing, but very funny. There are plenty of high points from the likes of George Carlin, Drew Cary and Sarah Silverman, who doesn’t really stay with the joke, but still manages to deliver perhaps the biggest laughs.

&#8220The Aristocrats” is unrated but contains extremely explicit language and is definitely not for children. It is now available on DVD.

Sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton now has reviews available on the Web. Just go to www.bgdailynews.com and click on the Compton’s Critiques link for a quick hit of movies now playing in the area. Micheal can also be reached via e-mail at mcompton@bgdailynews.com.