In a nutshell…
So this is a biopic about the first openly gay man in US politics by one of the most openly gay directors in Hollywood starring one of the most straight men in the film industry. I must admit I wasn’t that intrigued, considering the last film I enjoyed by Gus Van Sant was Good Will Hunting, and that was over 10 years ago (not counting his short film in the ensemble movie Paris Je t’aime). This film takes us through the rise of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, charting his journey from owning a small quaint photography shop, to the position of district supervisor of the now infamous Castro district of San Francisco. As already said at first I honestly was not that bothered, that’s not meant to be taken as a homophobic comment just these kind of movies have little interest for me, but I am willing to admit when I am proven wrong, this film was absolutely wonderful. Sean Penn delivers frankly the best role I have seen him in a long time, taken out of his comfort zone of the cold heartless bastards he usually is associated with and thrown into this very camp, charismatic and truthfully charming persona. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film’s journey was through the evolution of Harvey’s own disposition and how he started as quite a, dare I say, timid inwardly gay man who felt sort of down on his luck and approaching a mid life crisis into the full of life politician who wasn’t afraid to stand up for his people in the same way Martin Luther King did for black civil rights roughly at the same time. Unfortunately this would also be, ultimately, his downfall after encountering his political rival of the piece, Dan White, played superbly by the man of the moment Josh Brolin.
Interestingly Brolin’s character kind of acts as the opposite side of the coin to Penn’s Milk in that he is in politics for personal gain, wanting to provide for his wife and children by trying to put through such deals as pay rises for him and his peers, which in turn Milk objects to, concentrating solely on his life mission, as the two clash there is only one outcome, which for anyone familiar with US political history will know and for those who don’t, well go see the film and you will see for yourself. Delightfully filmed to mimic the 1970s and using old real life news reel footage to coincide with the film’s events, Van Sant brilliantly sets the viewer into the period without making it look like a contemporary film set to an original score by the consistently brilliant Danny Elfman (Tim Burton associations aside for a minute, he is fantastic). As with some of the other films I have reviewed of late, the stars are only as good as their supporting cast, and Milk, surprisingly had an exceptional set. Hats should go off, for their roles in this movie, to both Emile Hirsch playing Harvey’s right hand man for his campaign, Cleve Jones and James Franco playing Harvey’s first partner (in the movie at least), and also arguably his muse and inspiration Scott Smith which proves in my eyes that they are indeed stars to watch out for in the future, whoever the weakest character of the piece and one I honestly did not feel anything for was Milk’s second partner Jack played by Diego Luna who was too intense and over the top and actually fairly irritating compared to the rest of the extremely colourful likeable characters. Furthermore Van Sant does a tremendous job of making the audience (regardless of their sexual orientation) feel involved in the film and caught up in the drama which flows at a really pleasurable pace building up to a beautiful emotional climax which made this reviewer weep…a little…ok…a lot.
Milk is also, as some know, recently and rightfully been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year, and you know what it could well win it in my honest opinion. If I hadn’t already made up my mind that Mickey Rourke will win for Best Actor for The Wrestler I would have put money on Sean Penn to claim the prize for himself. Likewise for Josh Brolin, if I hadn’t actually put money (and I have) on Heath Ledger to win best supporting actor for The Dark Knight he could well have been a front-runner but alas it will not to be just like Franco and Hirsch shamefully didn’t even get a mention. To summarise Milk is a captivating portrayal of one of the most important gay men to live in America during the 20th Century and Penn gives one of the best most endearing and charming performances, you will see in the cinema all year. Well done Gus you have suddenly got my attention again.
Stand out scene…
Any scene Penn is seen smiling, seriously you will never ever see that in a movie again!!!
Stand out quote…
The movie has a lot of tear jerking quotes that are a little cliché but hey if it works for Optimus Prime why not Harvey Milk…
“All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.” Or “Without hope, life's not worth living.”
But I personally liked the tongue and cheek nature of this quote during a debate Milk had with another politician…
“If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we'd have a lot more nuns running around.”
If you liked this movie watch…
Van Sant’s best movie before Milk came along, the Oscar winning, Good Will Hunting
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