Milk 2008
I couldn’t get too excited about going to see a movie about a murdered gay rights pioneer in San Francisco when this movie came out, but it did get good reviews and won Oscars for Sean Penn and the screenplay. So it was definitely a rental for me.
Sean Penn certainly had to spend a lot of time kissing men to get this Oscar. There is a lot of kissing and more in this movie. And while he isn’t flaming here, he definitely puts on a sissy voice. I don’t doubt all of that is accurate. It is courageous acting, and I have never argued that Sean Penn isn’t a great actor, but it seems easier to act an oversize character than a subtle one. And a heterosexual kissing other men doesn’t mean it is great acting (not that I’d want to do it).
The story mostly concerns Milk’s bumpy road to elected office: he loses several times before redistricting and changing demographics vault him into office (albeit after running against another gay man, diminishing the significance of being the first openly gay man elected to a major office, since it would have happened anyway). Meanwhile gay rights has become a big issue and San Francisco’s large gay population (not yet decimated by AIDS) is finding its voice. This still reasonates today as gays seek the right to marry, but at the time they just wanted the right to hold a job, own a business, or live somewhere without being discriminated against for their sexual preference (and many people opposed them, using the same arguments as today, simply because they don’t approve of gay people). Through the depictions of his campaigns and debates, Milk is able to bring up some very good points that support what he is fighting for.
So the story and performances are good, but the movie is about what you would expect from a political biopic. As such, I can’t give the movie more than a B+.
Written: 01 Aug 2009