Review

Review Date: 29-November-08
Spoiler Rating: High
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Milk (2008)

I watched the trailer for Milk a good seven or eight times, and each time it gave me goosebumps. There is something powerful in that glimpse of a doomed crusader facing tough odds with determination and a smile, especially when he is played by the intense (and infrequently smiling) Sean Penn. The movie itself does not share the passion of the trailer, and perhaps no faithful biopic could. But it possesses an urgency and grace that preclude any disappointment.

Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s at the age of forty. He became a hippie, a shop owner, and a rallying point for gays at a time when the United States was embroiled in civil rights battles concerning homosexuality. Before long Milk started seeking public office, losing several bids before becoming a city supervisor (like an alderman) in 1977. Although he sacrificed his beard and ponytail to make a better impression on voters, he never made any concessions to homophobic discrimination. He was the first openly gay politician in a U.S. city and made sure everyone knew he represented what others called "his people," by which they did not mean his fellow San Franciscans.

Director Gus Van Sant opens the long-awaited film about Milk's career by telling or reminding the viewer that he was assassinated while in office. This lends poignancy to what comes next, a sometimes gripping, sometimes touching, sometimes funny chronicle of Milk's rise to prominence. The gripping parts often merge with the funny ones as Van Sant recounts the objections of the Christian Right, particularly those of singer Anita Bryant. Her interview clips would be hilarious if they weren't so terrifying and reminiscent of a certain governor from up north. The touching parts mostly involve James Franco as Milk's true love, whom he abandoned in his quest to make America live up to its ideals.

If Franco's performance gives the movie its heart, Penn's provides the soul. He captures not only the stubbornness and strength that Milk must have had, but also the gentleness and humor that would have allowed him to diffuse blind anger and lead a movement effectively. The acting is terrific all around, with outstanding contributions from Emile Hirsch as one of Milk's most active supporters and Josh Brolin as the troubled City Hall colleague whom Milk unwittingly sends over the edge. Much as Milk encouraged gays to come out of the closet so that the straight majority would realize they all knew "one of them," the film presents Milk's life and work in a way that allows the viewer not to feel like an outsider. It is the story of a man and of a figure whose fight, like all battles for human rights, belongs to all people.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.