Milk
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Movie Reviews of Milk
Movie Review: The Spirit of MILK lives in this movie
Summary: 5 Stars
i saw this film in the theater and not being a huge fan of penn and in certain cases thinking of his rep at times as being overinflated...i left the theater a believer.
Sean Penn does a phenomenal job and i've never seen Penn embrace or embody the spirit of a character with such authority and compelling intensity as he did in milk.
Penn did not act as Milk but was Harvey Milk.
As for Harvey Milk, well you get a glimpse into his personal life as well as his rise into the political spotlight leading into the assasination of this most courageous individual who fought for the rights of his community through extreme adversity.
What spurred his political interest was seeing all the beatings and hate killings with none or hardly any penalties being applied because the victims happened to be gay.
In the end, it was about murder and injustice to human beings.
Penns astonishing performance is accompanied by a steller cast completely involved and inspired in their parts with James Franco as his first campaign manager and lover and Emile Hirsch portraying his political right hand man and quite an effective ally in the campaign to get Milk elected to politcal office
Diego Luna who's made such impresive and risque performances in such movies as y tu mama tambien impresses again here with a sensitive memorable portrayel of Milks extremely final unstable lover.
Josh Brolin also turns in a great performance as supervisor Dan White showing all the complexities of this character leading up to a chilling climactic final scene.
It's a joy to see how much Brolin has grown as an actor and he displays here a range and depth that are quite compelling.
Finally we arrive to the script writer (Dustin Black) and the director Gus Van Sant.
First i will say that the script is excellant with a dialogue and story writng that never loses its momentum and keeps you engaged from minute one to the end.
It helps that you have such a fine cast to make it happen but the script went hand in hand to make such a wonderful movie.
Gus Van Sant to me i felt was very detailed and seemed to really care about giving us the facts about this historical figure with footage from that time including Anita O' Bryant's famous interviews and speeches as well as footage from the Castro neighborhood back in the 70's and news reports featuring Walter Cronkite.
Newspaper articles from that time were also featured and at the end of the movie you get to see actual pictures of the real people who were part of the Milk campaign.
You can see the love and dedication that Gus Van Sant put into this film and in the end it paid off.
The end result is a magnificent film and an instant classic.
Not something that happens too often in this commerically money obsessed movie community.
Movie Review: A Rich And Effective Biopic
Summary: 5 Stars
Doing film biopics can be very tricky. You can either come out with a tremendous success or an overconvulted film. With Milk, thankfully, it falls into the latter catagory, with a great script, masterful directing, and talented cast, it rises up as possibly one of the greatest film biopics ever.
Havery Milk was the first openly gay man to enter public office and is considered an icon in the gay community. What he accomplished in the short span of his politic career could fill volumes. The film begins with Milk recording his life story, from his meeting with longtime lover Scott Smith, to their move to Castro street in '72, his run for office, the numerous people he meets, and of course his untimely death at the hands of a fellow politician.
Out of all the award films that I have seen this year, Milk is really the only one that I felt really lived up to all the acclaim. Slumdog was great, so was Benjamin Button and The Dark Knight, The Reader was alright, as was Frost/Nixon, but Milk was truly that one film that really satisfied me. I would gladly say that Milk is hands down the best picture of 2008.
Gus Van Sant has made arguably his best film, perfectly balancing all the emotions, sensitivity, and humor that everything just sort of flows across the screen and nothing feels to rushed or to slow. The screenplay by Dustin Lance Black perfectly encapsulates who Milk was as a person, warm, funny, stead fast, someone that you looked up to, no matter if you were gay or straight.
The cast, in particular, does a great job, with the obvious standout of course being Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. Now I will admit, I am not a Sean Penn fan. There has just always been something about him that I just did not like. But with this role, he has really turned my opinions on him. The whole time I was watching the film, seeing him gave me nothing but joy, with no animosity or hatred at all felt towards him. He emobied so much of what Harvey Milk was as a person that you cannot believe that this tough as nails actor could play someone so opposite of who he normally potrays. Each of the supporting actors are also great as well, with Emile Hirsh, James Franco, and Josh Brolin being standouts. I will say that I don't agree with Brolin's Oscar nomination. Out of all the supporting roles, I think his is the most underwritten. If it were up to me, Hirsh would get the nomination and not Brolin.
This is really a film that everyone should see, no matter what orientation you may be. And in the wakes of the recent Prop 8 vote in California, this film couldn't be even more relevant then ever. If there is any award movie you must see this year, Milk is that film. It will have you leaving the theater with a skip in your step and light in your heart.
Movie Review: Astonishing View into the Events of That Time.
Summary: 5 Stars
In thinking back over my high school years in the early 50s in Boulder, CO, I must have come into contact with at least 1000 students of that age and I cannot recall knowing of a single homosexual (gay or lesbian). Such matters were just not revealed or discussed, except in bad-taste jokes. My parents and other adults seemed not at all inclined to yield any information about the subject, nor did they point their fingers at any known suspects. I grew up almost totally ignorant and it wasn't until I went to college and graduate school (Boulder, CO, and Seattle, WA, in late 50s and early 60s) that I even became aware that there was such a thing as a gay community (not called gay at the time).
Flash forward to the present. I've now attended three San Diego area Gay Pride parades, large festive gatherings attended by thousands of open gays in amusing and outrageous get-ups and gathering thousands and thousands of interested and generally supportive spectators along the way. Oh sure, there are the preachers, angry people carrying placards and police ready to go into riot mode at an instant's notice, but that just adds to the charm and festivity of the gathering. It's a fun annual event. If your community has one, be sure to take it in. It's highly educational and very worth while.
Well, the difference certainly marks a radical change in our society and one I never would have anticipated. The change has been gradual over those 60 years and punctuated by killings, beatings, court orders, protests, voting on propositions and what not all. Cultural changes are not easy and this one has been an especially difficult struggle. I've always been on the outside looking in and it represents an extremely interesting period of cultural change.
Last night, my wife and I viewed the movie "Milk" on DVD. The story involves Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the US and the people he was surrounded by and the context of the time they were in. The story took place largely in the Castro District of San Francisco where Milk was elected as a City Supervisor. The movie is stunningly well done. Kudos to director Gus Van Sant. It's done up as a semi-biography in a subdued documentary style. To me, as a total outsider, I would say the movie was fair and balanced. If you have strong views one way or another, you may have a different interpretation. Sean Penn and the rest of the cast do a marvelous job with the acting. The whole story is very believable. I can clearly remember many of the events and people of that time, and I appreciate seeing them put in this context. To me, the movie "Milk" presents an astonishing view into the events of that time.
Gary Peterson
Movie Review: A Controversial but Wonderful Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very dramatic and heartwrenching movie to watch, but a great one that is based on a true story. Sean Penn plays a very good Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was a very charismatic and intelligent gay rights advocate. James Franco plays Scott, someone who was very much loved by Harvey. They both move together to San Francisco, where Harvey goes on to have his political career. Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay man to be elected in office. The movie chronicles some of the other battles that Harvey must face when he gets elected. However, I enjoyed how the movie showed him displaying persistence, courage, and self-confidence even in the face of obstacles. Josh Brolin plays Harvey's political rival Dan White (in real life Dan White is responsible for his murder). There are going to be various elements that catch an individual's attention depending on who they are. What caught my attention was how Harvey Milk is portrayed as one who is the rescuer. Obviously, this at times served him well to have a good heart because he was well loved by many people. The movie shows how he would come to the "rescue" of the two lovers that are portrayed in the movie (Scott Smith and Jack Lira)in a compassionate and caring way. First off, let me say that I think that it was a good thing that he had a big heart. It served him in a positive way on how he connected to people from all walks of life. However, the movie does portray that it was his rescuing personality that may have cost him his life. This is due to the fact that the movie shows how one of Harvey's campaign workers warns him about being too close to Dan White. Harvey understands this concern of the campaign worker, but he implies why Dan could benefit from his help. Then the campaign worker rightfully points up that he is big on being the rescuer, and seems to drop hints to Harvey to be careful. Sean Penn played the role of Harvey Milk so well that it really felt like I was getting a historic glimpse on what it might have felt like for Harvey Milk and for those that were the closest to him and helping him out. I normally love and prefer to watch only cheerful feel good movies. However, this movie pulled at my heartstrings because a very powerful, caring, and intelligent man was taken at such a stage in his life where he was just starting to reap the benefits of his hard work. Aside from this caveat, I still feel that this was a terrific movie with some convincing and talented actors and actresses, with my favorite two being Sean Penn and James Franco.Movie Review: Sean Penn earns all the praise he gets!
Summary: 5 Stars
What an amazing movie this was! Not just as a great example of gay cinema done right, though it certainly is that. No, it stands on its own as a movie showing the portrait of a man who didn't intend to become political, wound up doing so, and ended up paying the ultimate price.
The film tells the story of Milk and his boyfriend (James Franco), moving to San Francisco and promptly running into the kind of evil prejudice against gays that one would these days expect to see only at a CPAC meeting. This energizes and angers him to the point where he starts to get involved and begins his efforts to run for office. Initially his biggest enemies are the other prominent gays, but soon he's able to overcome and get elected, right in time to start a major fight with Anita Bryant and her crowd.
Sadly his promising political career is cut short as another member of the San Francisco government guns down Milk and the mayor. He later plead not-guilty due to reasons of insanity, using the famous "Twinkie Defense", but it's pretty clear from what we see here that, no, he wasn't nuts; just another bigot who couldn't stand the gays and was really ticked when one of them, Milk, broke a political promise to him.
Sean Penn gives the performance of his career as gay activist/politician Harvey Milk. He completely disappears into the role. At no point was I "aware" that I was just watching someone act, as often happens with films. No, he is extremely convincing and does an incredible job worthy of the Best Actor award he received for the role.
The writing and directing are quite effective as well. This is the sort of movie that could've very quickly wound up being nothing more than a preachy screed in favor of gay rights, but thankfully it instead is something far more entertaining and interesting.
Further I, as someone who is bisexual, gained new appreciation for the gay rights movement. I'm too young to remember what it was like during the 1970's for gays, but from this movie I now have an inkling, and I'm glad there were people like Milk who were around to fight against the monsters like Bryant and her bunch. Realistically the worse we face these days is fights over same-sex marriage, gay adoption and the right to serve in the military. What was fought for back then was a simple right to exist and this movie really brought home that point.