In theaters. Rated R, 128 minutes. Trailer.
Milk is a rags-to-riches political tale layered with characters and situations that create a nearly messianic profile of San Francisco City Supervisor and all around gay activist Harvey Milk. First elected in the late 70's, Milk was the first openly gay elected official in America, and he was shot and killed by fellow Supervisor Dan White at SF City Hall (along with the Mayor) just two years later. Such a fascinating story combined with the involvment of Sean Penn (as Milk) and Director Gus Van Sant put this one at the top of my list despite a less than enticing subject matter. Click below for more MILK:
Van Sant tends to be hit or miss, with lots of esoterica that I can't sit through, but also greatness like Good Will Hunting. He opens his film with lots of grainy 60's and 70's footage of gays being arrested, etc, setting up one of the foundations of the film: gay rights are the same as civil rights for blacks. We then see Milk making a tape recording to be played in the event of his assassination - this serves as the narration device for the film. After a random subway pickup with Scott (James Franco), Harvey heads to SF to start again as a camera shop owner in the famed Castro district. He quickly rises as the leader of the gay community there through his charisma and hard work. After several unsuccessful (but informative) runs for various offices, fate smiles on him and he wins election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. There he plays politics with every gay issue and has an odd relationship with Dan White, which ends tragically.
The
film is entertaining, but not particularly stirring. Granted, I am on the exact opposite side of the whole theme of the movie, but even the 90% gay audience (you read that right, doc) I saw it with didn't appear very shaken or moved, with nary a tear of clap of applause at the end. There is WAY too much sexual content for my liking, and it seemed a little in your face, even for a film of this kind. Penn is a revelation as Milk, embodying his controlling, charismatic style - he is a lock for a best actor nomination. The other impressive performance is from Emile Hersch as Cleve Jones, a smarmy and smart political activist. He was funny and added a spark of life to the film every time he came around. Brolin is also excellent as the enigmatic White. The previews lead you to believe he is a gay-hater, but the films bears out that he was just a normal family guy. This is part of the film's major weakness. Anyone that disagrees with the gay rights movement is painted as either a bigot or an idiot. I was able to laugh off the caricature, but it really diluted the impact of the film (see: Moore, Michael).
The script is well done and Van Sant's direction and pacing all work, but the bottomline is that the film is a decent bio-pic with some interesting political subplots.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Milk - B+
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2 comments:
Van Sant is an interesting director and I will see this, but not in the theater - even it wins Best Picture. Even if Angelina was sitting on my lap.
By the way, Van Sant can't act worth a crap, as proven by the Season Finale of Entourage. Scorsese was OK, but he's usually better. It was hard to write about Entourage this season given that absurd subplot about Turtle and Jamie Lynn Sigler, the increasingly whiny E, and unfunny embarassment that is Johnny Drama. Ari and Vince are still great.
B+ for me as well. it would be an A-, but you really feel the last 30 minutes. The acting here is across-the-board superb, with Emile Hersch turning in the finest performance as a male-prostitute-turned-political activist. You see his self-confidence grow throughout the film as he finds his voice. Penn is great (as everyone is noting at the moment) and Brolin is excellent in a demanding roll. His indefinable rage is burning just underneath the surface. speaking of, i felt like the implication at one moment that perhaps White was gay (and this explained how things worked out with Milk) was weak and uncalled for. The charge that anyone who has a disagreement with a gay person is homophobic and (therefore) a closeted homosexual themselves is warn pretty thin. Still, the tale is fascinating, and Milk does seem to possess something of a savior/messiah complex, perhaps something one would have needed if they were gay and considering running for office in the 70's. A very good film, but not a great one.
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