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Milk

I have been putting off writing this review for weeks now and I'm not sure why. I think it might be because I'm afraid that if I heap as much praise on this film as I feel it's do, it might turn people off to it and claim that I have a personal agenda in pushing this film other than the fact that it's a great movie. Well, maybe I do. But hey, theoretically that's what I'm supposed to be paid for right? So here goes.

"You've Gotta Give Em' Hope!" That was Harvey Milk's decree to the people of this country when referring to the young gay men and women scattered throughout the United States in all different areas ranging from urban cities to devotedly religious small towns who were feeling lost and completely alone. 'You've Gotta Give Em Hope,' he would say, and thankfully this film is doing just that!

Milk was an astoundingly good movie. The Gay Civil Rights Movement has been one of the quietest, easy to ignore movements in this country's history. As a group we're more easily ignored and laughed at than other minorities. In fact, we're still the only minority group left in this country that can be openly attacked and verbally mocked without fear of reprisal or repercussion. If you don't believe me feel free to tune in any of the hate speech on Bill O'Reilly's radio show or a dozen other like minded hate mongers littering the air waves. But now at least with this film being released almost nationwide the people who are open to learning more about our struggle for equality finally can.

Thinking back I was amazed that I hadn't learned the details of Milk's life in school. I went to an extremely good high school in New York and later went on to NYU, so it's not like we were busy disproving evolution or anything. Gay Rights just wasn't a topic for discussion I suppose. Thankfully now that this movie has been made everyone who had the same educational fall out as I did, can learn a lot about the man and the movement just by watching this movie.

For those still unfamiliar with the story, Harvey Milk was the first openly Gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. He was a City Supervisor in San Francisco, CA in 1978. Harvey spent the first 40 years of his life in the closet working a typical uptight 9 "” 5 job where if they had discovered his homosexuality he would have been

fired. Shortly after meeting Scott Smith (James Franco), a struggling New York City actor and the man who ultimately became the true love of his life, the pair moved out to San Francisco and opened up a camera shop in an area called 'The Castro.'

Finally out and proud, Harvey began to take up political causes in his new neighborhood ranging from fighting police brutality and homophobia to simple things like not being discriminated against by the local merchant association. With each new victory came new challenges and Harvey met each and every one of them head on. Despite constant death threats and violence, he fought the good fight for his people right up until the moment he was shot dead by fellow City Supervisor (and I think repressed homo himself) Dan White (Josh Brolin).

Milk is a moving depiction of a great man in history and the people who he shared his life with. The facts are not skewed or sensationalized, they are depicted just as they happened which adds a real honesty to it. Also adding to the reality of the film was the use of actual news footage from these events as they happened. Not only does it add an air of authenticity to the piece, but it also shields director Gus Van Sant from being accused of vilifying certain people such as the Orange Juice Queen herself, Anita Bryant and her followers.

My one complaint about the film was the lack of the Anita Bryant pie in the face press conference clip. They were so good at letting her hang herself with her own words that I thought for sure at the end we'd see her get her come-up-hence in that historic moment, but alas no.

(For anyone who hasn't seen it, thanks to the glories of youtube you can click here to check it out now; Bitch Gets a Pie in the Face)

Other than that I thought the film was wonderful in covering a great deal of ground in a relatively short amount of time. It really takes you through the birth and life of the Gay Movement that literally began in that little camera shop on Castro Street; Which incidentally was where this was all actually filmed.

The entire cast were all perfectly suited to their roles but I must say that Sean Penn is a force of nature. What he does can't be considered just 'acting.' Because 'acting' is what those kids on the WB do and what he does is so far beyond that it's almost incomprehensible. So for the sake of this review lets just say he's 'Super-Acting.' And believe me he 'Super-Acted' his ass off! I mean, he literally became Harvey Milk. I know that is somewhat cliché to say but I couldn't recognize a single part of Sean Penn in that performance. It was

all Harvey. Surviving members of Harvey's circle of friends described watching Penn perform as an eerie experience because of how true to the man he was.

James Franco is always great to watch but as the loving gay boyfriend you just can't ask for more. His charm and sly glances are enough to make anyone melt. So if Scott Smith was half as smooth as Franco I think we know why Harvey loved him as much as he did.

The most difficult role to play in the entire film had to be Dan White. Josh Brolin did a fantastic job of making us understand this man and his inner demeans without humanizing him to the point where we can forgive him his actions.

Emile Hirsch, Alison Pill, Diego Luna and the rest of the Castro Camera crowd blended so well into that time period that you never get the feeling that you're watching modern actors play acting in the past. Was truly a great ensemble cast.

I'm sure that anyone who is gay, or is a friend to the gay community, will be able to appreciate this movie and it will hopefully inspire them to learn more about Harvey Milk and what he went through and then possibly become more active today in our struggle against decisions like Prop 8 in California that continue to deny us our basic human rights. As for the people who are still of the misguided notion that there is something inherently wrong with homosexuality and that the fires of hell will one day consume us, I just encourage them to learn more of the true facts about the history and this movie will help to do that.

“Ignorance and fear can only be overcome by knowledge and understanding.”

Movie Grade: A

Synopsis:

After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.

Mr. Milk had been the subject of several books and the Academy Award-winning documentary feature, The Times of Harvey Milk (1984); but Milk (2008) is the first fictional feature to explore private aspects of the man’s personal life and career.

Milk was filmed on location in San Francisco. Many of Mr Milk’s real-life surviving friends and former associates participated in the making of this film, several appearing on camera. (from IMDb)