"Milk" Movie Review

With the holiday season in full swing we find ourselves inundated with Oscar-worthy films, making the end of year push for recognition. This week we decided to watch Milk (R), the Harvey Milk biopic starring Sean Penn, James Franco, and Josh Brolin. The film follows the political career of Milk, who became the first openly gay person elected to major political office when he won a city supervisor election in 1977 San Francisco. Gus Van Sant directs.

Ryan: With solid performances and expert directing, Milk is an extremely well-crafted movie. It didn’t blow me away but it’ll be in the conversation for Best Picture come Oscar time. Van Sant has fashioned a movie that’s not only historic but relevant as well. I value the fact that the movie doesn’t express its story with a specific agenda in mind. It presents the facts impartially and argues rightly that discrimination (especially with some of the homophobic legislation in the 1970's) in American is simply unacceptable.

Andy: As is usually the case when he is in a movie, Sean Penn carries Milk along the whole way, and the movie is only as strong as his performance. In this case, the movie is very strong. It is absolutely no secret that Penn is one of (if not the) best actors of his generation, and Milk is another feather in his acting cap. His performance is real, moving, and full of an energy that makes Harvey Milk seem like a guy you would want on your side. When the announcements come out for best actor nominations, it will be very hard to imagine Penn not making the list.

Ryan: Sean Penn is no stranger to the Oscars and he’ll be familiar with them again. He has delivered some stellar performances in his illustrious acting career and here with Milk he delivers another worthy performance. He portrays Milk as a real person and not as a caricature or savior. Penn is leading the way but the rest of the cast performs admirable as well. Franco and Brolin finish off their strong years with noteworthy performances and Hirsh continues to show that he’s one of the best young talents in today’s Hollywood.

Andy: Brolin has had an amazing run starting with last year’s No Country for Old Men. He does a remarkable job of being the understated political foil to Penn’s Milk. He is nowhere near as flashy in Milk as he was in W, but his performance is even-keeled and subtle in a way that many actors have a hard time pulling off. As for Franco, he continues his remarkably versatile career. He has carved out a niche as a high quality supporting player in spite of his leading-man abilities and looks. It is still likely that someday he will break big, but for now he seems happy doing what he is doing.

Ryan: In the past several years Van Sant has spent his time making more intimate albeit smaller productions. There's nothing wrong with that but it's nice to see him succeeding again with a major motion picture. An Oscar nomination for Best Director would not be out of the question either. It seems like bio-pics have been a dime a dozen lately so it's refreshing that Van Sant has produced a movie that feels fresh and energetic. By weaving in actual footage of some of the events depicted in the movie, Van Sant has created a bio-pic that conveys more authenticity than most biographical movies.

Andy: I was surprised to see that Van Sant’s last major release was Finding Forrester (2000). After the huge commercial success of Good Will Hunting, Van Sant is still a very familiar name in Hollywood, but has contented himself with smaller films over the large part of the last decade. Milk is unlikely to be a huge box-office hit, but it does allow one of the better directors out there a chance to shine on a larger stage.

Milk is not a perfect film, but it does everything very well. It seems likely we will be hearing more about this movie when the Oscars come around early next year.

Final grade: A-.