"Brokeback Mountain" seems to have everything going for it: great reviews, a remarkable opening weekend and dominance in the first wave of the Hollywood awards season, underscored Tuesday by seven Golden Globe nominations, the most of any film.
But there's one important landmark the film has yet to reach -- roping in a mass audience.
Over the next several weeks, the movie about two handsome young cowboys falling in love with each other -- dubbed by some wags the gay "Gone With the Wind" -- will be released across the United States in cities where its themes of repressed sexuality and cultural intolerance may prove a tougher sell than they have in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with their concentrations of cineastes and gay and lesbian populations.
"Brokeback Mountain's" future in the heartland will offer a classic test of whether what the movie business considers its best work will be embraced by audiences whose values may be more conservative than Hollywood's. In some ways, "Brokeback" could prove a counterpoint to the phenomenal success of last year's "The Passion of the Christ," a film disparaged by Hollywood power brokers and many film critics that still emerged as a blockbuster.
The controversial cowboy movie, which is rated R in part for its sexuality, also is hitting theaters at a time when filmmakers and studio executives are worried they are losing touch with audiences, as reflected by a yearlong box-office slump.
At least one national theater owner said he believed "Brokeback Mountain's" appeal would not be limited to major metropolitan cities.
"Between the controversy and the reviews, 'Brokeback Mountain' is becoming a 'must-see' movie of the year," said Jerry Pokorski, executive vice president and chief film buyer for Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas, which has about 400 theaters across the country. "Maybe in Wichita Falls it will be a different story, but I still believe that good reviews -- and good films -- drive the business."
Outside of big cities, movies that generate great reviews don't always play strongly.
This year, "Capote" attracted consistently good reviews but has grossed $10.4 million in about 200 theaters. Within movies that have gay themes, the stronger the sexuality, the weaker the films tend to perform. Although toned-down gay-themed movies such as "The Birdcage" and "Philadelphia" were hits, the far more explicit -- and Oscar-winning -- transgender drama "Boys Don't Cry" sold $11.5 million in tickets.
