I reviewed the film "Milk," which is the real-life story of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to California's public office in 1978. The film recounts his life from the time he decided to become a part of the gay rights movement, until his assassination in 1978. The film stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, James Franco as his partner Scott Smith, and Josh Brolin as Dan White, a fellow politician who is fiercely conservative and who is basically against everything Harvey Milk stands for.
Pros:
1. Sean Penn was awesome as Harvey Milk. Not just in terms of acting, but he looks just like him, too. The likeness is uncanny, even. In terms of a straight man playing a gay man, it worked out well for him. He was believable, but not over the top.
See?
2. The film includes real footage from gay rights protests, arrests, riots, everything that was going down in San Francisco in the 1960's-1970's. That really made the movie even more emotionally vulnerable than it is by itself.
3. The filmmakers really cared about this project, and it shows in their work. They spent months researching Milk's life, down to what he liked to wear, places he liked to go, and even food he liked to eat. They talked to old friends of Harvey Milk, researched his actual belongings, looked at hours and hours of archival footage, and even bought out the shop that used to be Milk's personal camera shop to use in the film.
4. The cinematography is just lovely. Not only does the film feel like it was made in the 70's, but the lighting of the whole movie adds an ultra-dramatic feel to it. The happy scenes are all very bright, open and vibrant, while the more foreboding scenes are dim and intimate. Seems obvious to film a movie in this way, but they really triumphed in making me feel an entire range of emotions simply with the right lighting.
5. The soundtrack was awesome. Danny Elfman composed the soundtrack, too, which was surprising to me, since he usually doesn't do historical dramas. He's best known for his work with Tim Burton on movies like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "Alice in Wonderland." His style is usually more childlike and playful, so the fact that he can go so far as to write a score for a serious drama is a huge - and pleasant - surprise, and really shows his diversity.
6. Josh Brolin was a great Dan White. He was perfect as a super conservative politician who isn't sure how to handle having a gay man in public office. He tries to be friendly to him, but when Milk opposes everything he's working towards, things go sour very quickly.
Cons:
1. I don't want to hate on James Franco, but I have to in this one. His performance felt very much like a straight man trying to play a gay man. I'm not saying it's an easy thing to do, but all of the love scenes with Penn looked a little awkward because you can see how uncomfortable Franco is. And he's not the only offender! Emile Hirsch plays Cleve Jones, one of Milk's disciples, and he too looked very fake playing a gay person.
2. After Milk and Scott Smith break up, Milk meets a troubled youth named Jack Lira, who eventually becomes his next partner. Throughout the movie, Milk is seen as a push over character who can't resist helping out a person in need; however, the character of Jack Lira can be compared to an immature child. Not only are his actions over-acted and over the top, It's a sub-plot that is never explained thoroughly. He meets Jack, a relationship develops, he gets SUPER clingy and then all of the sudden he can't stand being second to Milk's political career, so he hangs himself. It happened so fast that I didn't really understand why they included that sub-plot.
3. It's a true story. It sucks to watch the movie and realize that the same issue that was being argued over then is still being argued over now. And it sucks that if you know the story of Harvey Milk, you know the movie is going to end badly.
And that's it! Thanks for reading! Happy Easter!
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