Milk
Sean Penn is in superb form as the influential Harvey Milk
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Monday, 19, Jan 2009 11:25
Directed by Gus Van Sant, out January 23rd, starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, running time 123 mins.
In a nutshell.
Love, hope, politics and homosexuality.
What's it all about?
The San Francisco of the early 1970s was not necessarily the gay-friendly city of culture it is now known as. Although the Haight-Ashbury area became a Mecca for free-thinking men and women during the late 1960s, small-minded attitudes toward homosexuality remained rife.
Having established himself as the self-appointed Mayor of Castro St, Harvey Milk emerged as the voice of the area's burgeoning gay community and began a journey that would see him eventually elected to public office.
This film recounts the life of Milk set against the backdrop of one of his most difficult campaigns - the fight against Proposition 6 - a law which would have seen gay teachers forced to give up their careers.
Who's in it?
Award magnet Sean Penn takes the title role and is pitted against serial scene-stealer Josh Brolin as republican official Dan White. Both men are not short of good performances on their CV, most notably for 2003's Mystic River and last year's No Country For Old Men respectively.
Elsewhere, support comes from Pineapple Express' James Franco and Speed Racer's Emile Hirsch, and directorial duties fall to Gus Van Sant - whose list of arthouse classics include My Own Private Idaho, Elephant and Paranoid Park.
As an example.
"If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we'd have a lot more nuns running around." - Harvey Milk addresses the supposed reasoning behind Proposition 6
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Well, at the time of writing this, the nominations were still over a week away and Milk was looking like a shoe-in for at least one statuette.
However, as the Golden Globes - a ceremony seen by many as a precursor to the Academy's honours list - left the film without a win for its lead, some doubt may have been raised.
What the others say
"A paint-by numbers biopic of the tireless activist that wastes the efforts of some fine actors." - Dan Callahan - House Next Door
"The first great film to look at civil rights from the perspective of the gay movement." - Kirk Honeycutt - Hollywood Reporter
So is it any good?
Looking back at 2008, certain political events are sure to remain in the collective psyche of the US public longer than others. The election of the first black president is one and the validation of Proposition 8 is arguably another.
Although the former shows attitudes have changed since Harvey Milk's era, the latter - which means gay marriage is now unrecognised by the state of California - could be seen as indicative that more has yet to be done.
This message seems to be underscored in Milk. The film has some heavyweight performances from Penn and Brolin - with neither overemphasising the more extreme traits their characters could have otherwise been imbued with.
James Franco, who plays put-upon boyfriend Scott during Milk's early political life, is particularly good throughout and elsewhere the cast fails to put a foot wrong - but unfortunately, it is here where my praise for the film ends.
Van Sant, usually so creative in his direction, opts for fairly standard biopic fare and as a fan of previous flashes of brilliance like 2003's Elephant, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
A solid film, well acted and depicting an important voice in US politics, Milk just feels as if it could have been a little bit more 'brilliant'.
6/10
Noel Mellor