I ADORE that late scene where we see them cuddle, Ennis with his arm around Jack’s torso. I think it’s soft, tender and show us how much they cared about each other no matter what problems they had, how much they needed to “feel” each other in spite of all the hurt and disappoint they could live just a few moments before.
But I disagree with the perception some of you have about this showing us how much their relationship was less passionate, quieter or even more monotonous. I think we only are seeing them sleeping, but what happened before of that or even after when they woke up is another story…. They loved each other something fierce, with wild passion and that didn’t lessen with the time passing by. The very own Jack said that he needed more than a couple of F**ks a year, and we know how raw and blind Ennis can be. I think that before of that scene they made love with the same unstoppable strength as always. They were unable to say each other I love you…They were unable to talk openly about their feelings….They were unable to live with each other…So the only way they had to show their endless love for each other was sex, with their hands and lips. 20 years mean routine? Nah, not when you only see the person who has your very heart and soul twice a year. I bet when they saw each other that first day of every fishing trip they kisses and f**ked the living lights out of each other for hours!!
They grew old, Jack became bitterer and Ennis more tortured, but the only thing that never, never changed was their love expressed through burning, incandescent, incendiary lovemaking. Annie said that they had sex that night, rolling on the floor, not even wasting time to get in the tent!!! And when they were talking Annie wrote how Jack’s hands was between Ennis’ leg and Ennis was pulling Jack close to him, so they were unable to take their hands away from each other not even when they were talking about their children. For me that speaks about passion loud and clear.
Annie is the mother of these cowboys; she knows them better than anyone and she used this line to define their sex when they made love near the fire just right before the scene we are talking about here:
One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enoughHow can you fall into the routine when you only get to be with the one you love twice or three miserable times a year? They couldn't get enough from each other during those 16 years of fishing trips, just like it was in the reunion scene. Like Annie said, never enough. Thanks.
