Milk (2008)
Milk (2008) 7/10
There is a scene at the end of the film, using real historical footage, of a long candlelight march to commemorate the death of Harvey Milk. It is a scene that is singularly powerful and moving, of a man who dared stand up for his beliefs and pave the way for equality. This is not a spoiler, because it early on it is made clear that Harvey Milk, played to perfection by Sean Penn, is assassinated. The tale of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office in the United States is in many ways the story of the rights movement in general. There are the bigots, the Anita Bryants, and then there are those who challenge the status quo, because of the singular belief that all men are created equal. As a film, as a biopic, director Gus Van Sant crafts a solid and moving film that shows Milk in all his idiosyncrasies. Harvey Milk is flawed, common, persistent but not in an exceptionally heroic way. He is in other words just a regular guy, except for his sexuality. Sean Penn disappears into Harvey Milk and his intonation, mannerisms are portrayed with the expert craft of an Oscar winning Actor. Let there be no doubt: Sean Penn will get a Best Actor Nomination for Milk, and he has a fairly good chance of winning.
The reason why this film does not get a higher grade, despite excellent acting, including a strong supporting performance by Josh Brolin is because as a biopic the film does not really scale beyond comparable biopics. When placed next to Ray, Capote, The Aviator, Walk The Line, there is nothing here that elevates it from a good film to a great film. While the film carries a laudable message, i am bound to critique it as a film and in that aspect alone Milk is a good and well crafted film that just falls short of greatness. Still, this is a film i urge you to watch because it is still better than the multitude of films available at the cineplex.
