4. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
There are many men out there who have probably never seen this film due to fears or accusations of being called a gay, or by wrongly thinking this film is just a film aimed at gay men. This is far from the truth, and the film in fact explores the general theme of masculinity which all men can relate to, as much, if not more than the theme of homosexuality. The film follows two American shepherds in the 1960s, played superbly by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall, who fall in love with one another. However, Heath Ledger's character finds this sudden and strange attraction uncomfortable and most of the film he tries to hide it from not only his family, but himself, due partly because of his fathers strict and violent warning against homosexuality as a young child. Ledger plays the quintessential man's man. He is the type of character who would probably be too shy and reserved to cry at movies, and is very relatable to most men, regardless of sexuality. He is the metaphor of masculinity, and the films true power and emotion comes from the films focus on breaking this very thick wall of masculinity he has built around himself down. Seeing a shy, reserved man actually begin to discover his true self and struggle with this is a very powerful thing to watch... similar to the first time you saw your father cry for example. The true heartbreaking, throat clogging scene comes near the end when Heath's character Ennis discovers that his on and off again "boyfriend" Jack (Gyllenhall) has died, most likely beaten to death because of his more open sexuality, and it is his understated way of dealing with this news, including keeping a shirt of Jacks with him as a memory which is painfully sad to watch, particularly as they were never really allowed to have the relationship they both wanted. Hopefully you are unprejudiced and have seen this movie, but if not, you really are missing out on a truly beautiful film that should be appreciated and be famous for so much more than just one of it's many, many themes. It also deserved to win the Oscar over Crash (just saying).