The actors play two friendless strangers thrown together by circumstance who become star crossed lovers, unexpectedly falling for each other on a remote, sparse campsite on the scenic Brokeback Mountain.

BBC: Oscars panel: Trevor Martin

The unsecret ingredient of its rampant success was turning a dog-eared, dog-eat-dog premise into a coming-of-age story about a strong, resourceful girl, then widening it into a fable of star-crossed lovers.

WSJ: 'Hunger Games' Has a Less-Than-Full Plate | Film Review by Joe Morgenstern

Even with an arsenal of razors at hand, Sweeney comes across as more of a misfit than a murderer, and the romantic subplot, about a pair of star-crossed lovers (Jamie Campbell Bower and Jayne Wisener), verges on the twee.

NEWYORKER: Sweeney Todd

Time was when you could give audiences a thrill simply by casting young actors in the title roles, but ever since Franco Zeffirelli filmed the sorrowful tale of the star-crossed lovers in 1968, that expedient has come to be taken for granted.

WSJ: Star-Crossed Teens Clueless in Verona