Urgh, I am so sorry you watched that :o( That movie was so depressing, I completely agree. I was so intrigued when I saw the trailer, also because -- Glenn Close!!! But yeah, for shame :o(

I don't quite agree that it's a Brokeback Mountain, but - caveat - I am still pretty fond of that movie. I think the main difference, to me, is that BM is at least played for "Lookit the poor gays, their lives are terrible, we should pity them" whereas I felt like Albert was never anything but an inherently off-putting and unsympethetic character -- he wasn't made or acted to make the audience even like him, only for "Look at the freak!" effect.