"Brokeback Mountain" was written by the writers of "Lonesome Dove", the television miniseries.
If it weren't for the gay element (which gives relevance to the movie), it would just be a soap opera, like "Lonesome Dove", "Knots Landing", etc. Not even as good as "Dallas" or "Desperate Housewives."
At least the Brokeback 'screenplay' was written by the 'Lonesome Dove' writers. The Brokeback 'book' was written by someone else.
It sounds like they just cloned "Same Time Next Year" and gayed it up.