Review: ‘Milk’

Melissa:

My name is Melissa and I would like to recruit you to watch this movie! Whether you are familiar with the gay rights movement of the 1970’s, or just like a good human rights story, you should check out ‘Milk’.

‘Milk’ follows the story of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), a 40 year old gay man who has lived most of his life in the closet. He meets Scott Smith (James Franco) on a subway and suddenly his life changes. When Milk and his new lover move to a more gay friendly neighborhood for a better life (the neighborhood of Castro in San Francisco), they seem to find hate and discrimination instead. After his business is shunned by the local business association he decides to run for city office. He finds that through each of his campaigns, the gay rights movement is building support behind him.

Through Milk’s struggle, he fights some of the more powerful political/religious figures who are opposed to homosexuality, including Anita Bryant, and state senator John Briggs (Dennis O’Hare). The shocker is that his biggest enemy worked in the same office as him. Dan White (Josh Brolin) plays the state supervisor that brought Milk to his impending doom. (Normally I would not tell such a big piece of a movie, but since it’s a true story, it’s safe to say that history has already spoiled it!)

There was such a fire inside of this cast… Penn, Franco, Brolin… but also Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, Victor Garber as Mayer George Moscone, and Lucas Grabeel as Danny Nicoletta (From ‘High School Musica’  to gay activist… and done so gracefully!). The cast fed off of each other in a very positive way. Nothing though, will compare to the acting relationship of Penn and Franco. This role had to be pretty demanding. Their roles required love, romance, lust and compassion. To be frank, they had to be quite physical with each other. I was even shocked by how much that they threw into the role.   You don’t see an ounce of discomfort in their “bromance”. It was a beautiful relationship and they played it in a truthful, respectable, and lovely way! It would not surprise me to see them take home some awards. I knew how talented Penn is. I’ve been impressed by him since ‘I Am Sam’.  Although I have been a fan of Franco since ‘Freaks and Geeks’, I didn’t realize that he could stretch this far as an actor. I cannot wait to see him in more serious roles!

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected into office in California, not to mention the United States. They really timed the release of this film well. With the election of our first African-American President, and the biggest movement of voters in history, it seems that we have more people than ever interested in civil rights and politics, which adds to the movie’s appeal.

[Overall: 4.75 stars out of 5]

Jeremy:

Gus Van Sant’s new film, ‘Milk’, is an intimate telling of one man’s crusade to uphold and fight for what he believes. It tells a story as relevant today as it was when it occurred in 1978. Seeing the events that play out in the film, we realize that, 30 years later, we have not moved much further in recognizing members of the homosexual persuasion as equals in society. On November 4 of this year, the state of California passed Proposition 8 that more or less suppressed the act of same-sex marriage. It is not my place to get political in my criticism of films, but it is hard to ignore the realization that things haven’t changed much in the past three decades.

‘Milk’ tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. At the age of 40, Milk realized he hadn’t done anything important with his life, and he began a movement to change the way the homosexual community was treated. He ran for city supervisor in San Francisco three times before coming out victorious. In 1977, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

At that time, Anita Bryant, the Florida gay basher, was pushing for the removal of gay rights. In 1978, one of her causes was the introduction of the Briggs Initiative, Proposition 6, which would have resulted in the removal of all openly gay teachers in California. It is Milk’s first, main cause to keep this proposal from passing.

When we first see Milk, it is 1978. Milk sits at a dining room table with a tape recorder, and he begins speaking into the recorder accounting the events that led him to where he is at that time. He does it in case anything violent comes to him. It’s a framing device that the film goes back to from time to time, and it interjects the intimacy and connection with the individual amidst the telling of the larger story.

And that is exactly what ‘Milk’ is, a personal story about a man who wanted something greater for the people like him. Van Sant’s lyrical structuring, along with Harris Savides’ breathtaking camera work, creates an emotion between you and the film’s lead character. After films like ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Elephant’, and ‘Paranoid Park’, Van Sant has perfected this kind of connection creation between his audience and his characters, particularly the leads. The latter two, along with ‘Gerry’ and ‘Last Days’, have monopolized Van Sant’s directing duties over the past few years, and they are all stark depictions of human nature. With ‘Milk’, he still offers a tragic tale, but there is a great sense of hope that those previous films were devoid of. You care that Milk succeeds in fighting against Proposition 6, but you also feel for the character and his safety.

This sentiment is thrown our way even harder by the charismatic and majestic depiction of Milk by Sean Penn. Not known for his warmth and upbeat nature, Penn transforms his persona into that of a very welcome optimist. Milk is a happy-go-lucky guy who tries to keep anything from deterring him from achieving his goals.

Early in the film, Milk receives a letter in the mail, a drawing of a caricature of Milk getting shot, stabbed, and castrated. Milk’s lover, played by James Franco, wants Milk to throw the drawing away, but the sanguinity in Milk keeps him from doing that. Knowing that discarding the drawing will only help in giving its importance, Milk sticks the drawing on his refrigerator like a proud parent would a child’s, straight-A grade card. It’s only one scene, but it encapsulates the level of brightness that exudes from Milk’s character.

It’s the kind of character that would win someone an Academy Awards simply based on its nature, but Penn offers up a nuance, a gleeful departure from the depressing roles the actor has taken of late. Penn is an amazing actor, and, with Harvey Milk, he is able to display this prowess in the most buoyant nature imaginable. I hope he has plenty of room on his mantle for all the awards he is going to win for this performance.

Diego Luna and Franco are great in their respective roles as Milk’s partners in different points in his life. Luna plays Jack Lira, probably the only person in Milk’s life who doesn’t seem to be benefiting from the optimism. Luna, Franco, and Josh Brolin as Dan White, Milk’s peer in City Hall, are all great. Brolin is always faultless. However, it is Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, the smug street hustler who helps Milk’s campaign who shines brightest in the supporting cast. Hirsch disappears in glasses and wild, curly hair, but his performance never even comes close to falling into parody. He’s cocky and full of vigor, and he creates the perfect counterbalance to Penn’s subdued performance.

But don’t let all this optimism and resilience fool you. ‘Milk’ is through and through a tragedy. It may be the most heartwarming and triumphant tragedies seen in recent memory, but it is a tragedy, nonetheless. It’s a real-life tragedy, to boot, and Van Sant never lets you forget that fact. He disperses archival footage throughout, and combined with the wonderful score by Danny Elfman, it offers some of the best news footage editing this side of ‘JFK’.

Everything in ‘Milk’ rings true. Â  Everything, that is, save for one, tiny little moment near the end. Â  After the film has reached its climax and just before the closing scene, there is a scene between Franco’s character and Alison Pill’s Anne Kronenberg, a lesbian working for Milk’s campaign. Â  It’s a strange and unnecessary scene that should have been excised from the film entirely. Â  It’s extremely easy to look past, but it is there, regardless.

Van Sant has created a masterful film with ‘Milk’, not so much a biopic but a recreation of a certain time and place and the man behind the change that took place there. Both tragic and triumphant, ‘Milk’ is an incredibly pleasant look at how Harvey Milk shaped San Francisco and how his actions gave hope to so many like him. It is all the more tragic given the events of the past few months, but change always starts with one person, and it is quite possible that ‘Milk’ could act as that person’s inspiration.

[Overall: 4.75 stars out of 5]

Quin:

Milk is one of those movies that can sway even the most opposed to get off their high horse and see a movie that shows that anything is possible when you have a dream that means something to you. Before I saw this movie I had no idea who Harvey Milk was so I decided to do some research on him and Harvey was a remarkable individual who persevered through a lot that if it was anyone else they would just quit. Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin and the rest of the cast were amazing biopic that mad me cry like a baby. This was a movie that deserves Oscars on top of Oscars from acting to directing to screenwriting to cinematography. This is what a great movie should be and emotional ride that has you griped from the opening to the closing. I give this movie 10 out of 10 stars, because a one to five rating doesn’t do this movie justice at all.

Travis:

A film was bound to be made about Harvey Milk at some point, but I am glad they managed to make it a good one. Milk’s life story as an adult was meant to be told and the film does an excellent job of detailing the obstacles, struggles and emotional hardship of the politician who’s life was cut too short. ‘Milk’ is shot in a documentary style, placing you into the events as they take place, creating a personal atmosphere in which to tell the story. Director Van Sant has achieved a film that successfully plays not only off his own unique indie-style of filmmaking experience, but also takes advantage of some more mainstream Hollywood influence to create a universally appealing story. I believe, the only way a person could dislike this film is if they have a problem with the person the story is about, and if that’s the case, you’re not “really” watching the movie.

Let’s talk about the cast for a moment. James Franco plays Milk’s long time companion and has a sort of James Dean swagger and composure. His confidence in the role exudes on screen, selling the character. Emile Hirsch plays a young man who becomes a loyal part of Milk’s tight-knit campaign/political team. This is a role somewhat different from his past works that he is almost unrecognizably well-fit to play. Josh Brolin made my skin crawl. Granted, I knew the basic plot points of the story going in, as would anyone who follows news and history, but Brolin’s portrayal of Dan White is one that feels frighteningly real. He created a picture of Dan White that clearly shows us how mentally fragile and emotionally unstable he was and the feeling of an impending tragedy surrounds him like an aura.

Finally, there is the case for Sean Penn. As absolutely perfect as the cast was in this film, Penn takes the cake. There are many who feel Penn was snubbed by the Academy when he lost the Oscar for ‘I Am Sam’, but ‘Milk’ is proving to be his big “take that” performance. It’s often difficult to find a high-quality performance in recent years, where an actor actually fully becomes the character and transforms themselves into someone on screen that you do not recognize as a familiar actor. The only other performance, in my opinion, that truly matches that of Penn’s in 2008 would be Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker.

[Overall: 5 stars out of 5]