Erik Lundegaard on the Oscar appeal of Brokeback Mountain

One of the best pieces on the much-discussed Brokeback Mountain comes from Minneapolis-based writer Erik Lundegaard, who writes, "I have to admit that 'Brokeback' didn't look particularly appealing to me from that September trailer. A hopeless, doomed romance. Yay. I also admit to some straight-guy trepidation -- but of the general rather than the Larry David 'it might make me gay' variety. If the number of times I got screwed over by women in my youth didn't lead me to consider an alternative, there's nothing Heath Ledger can do now.

"But when I finally saw 'Brokeback' I found it nearly perfect. It's more than a love story; it's really about loneliness, which is a more universal emotion anyway. Some of us haven't been in love; some of us don't believe in love. Everyone's been lonely."

Read the rest of the piece here.