Milk (Focus Features) is a biopic about Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn of Mystic River), the first openly gay man to be elected into public office. The film covers Milk’s move from New York to San Francisco in 1971 to his assassination in 1978.
The film, directed by Gus Van Sant (Paranoid Park), features an all-star cast that portrays the people that were part of Milk’s political and personal life. James Franco (Pineapple Express) plays Scott Smith, Milk’s boyfriend who moves with him to San Francisco. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer) plays Cleve Jones, a young gay delinquent who turns his life around with Milk’s help. Josh Brolin (W.) plays fellow city supervisor Dan White, who has an up-and-down political relationship with Milk and ultimately assassinates him along with the city mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber, TV’s “Eli Stone”).
Milk is a powerful film, and though it takes place in the 1970s, it is as relevant today as Harvey Milk in his day, especially with the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California.
One cannot help but cheer for Milk as he defies the odds and never gives up on his ambitions. A man who started out as a closeted homosexual who lived the life of a hippie, Milk saw the problems and prejudice in California and the United States and decided that he wanted to change things.
He wanted to make the world a better place, not just for homosexuals, but for seniors, minorities- anyone who had a voice that needed to be heard. Penn is brilliant as Milk, and blows audiences away as he portrays the titular man with courage and conviction, and there is no doubt that his name will be on the ballot when the Academy Award nominations are announced come January. His performance is masterful and heartfelt, and on a few occasions Penn has viewers fighting back tears.
The supporting cast is fantastic too, though Penn certainly steals the show.
Brolin and Hirsch show why they’ve become two of the most desired actors in Hollywood.
Brolin portrays the troubled Dan White with enough skill to make what could have been a callous villain, a sympathetic character. The underlying psychology behind White’s crime, whether jealousy of Milk’s popularity or self-hatred caused by his own possible homosexual feelings, is never fully explained. Whatever the case, Brolin sells it wonderfully.
Hirsch’s Cleve Jones is another great character. Hirsch evolves with the character, transforming from the bratty young man who is turning tricks to get by to one of Milk’s campaign managers and even a leader in the community in his own right.
Milk is a film about gay rights; however, it is a movie that should be seen by everyone. Not only is it perhaps the best film thus far this year, it is also one of the most important films to be released in recent memory. Though homosexuality has become more accepted in our society, and our nation has the most progressive mind set it has had in years, there are still problems. There are still instances of people being discriminated against for their lifestyle, and not judged by their character but by their sexual orientation.
This kind of hate is what Harvey Milk stood tall against, and Milk celebrates him to the fullest extent.
