Much to be commended but ultimately uninvolving

Rating: 6/10 (10 March 2009)

Milk has a lot in it that is very good. The cinematography, by Harris Savides, is beautiful, as is the original music by Danny Elfman. I deeply admired Sean Penn's bravura performance in the title role, his Best Actor Oscar was well deserved. Josh Brolin, as Milk's killer Dan White also gave an affecting performance.
Now to what I liked less. Despite a well written screenplay, for which Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar, I found the story rather uninteresting. But blame that on me, not Milk. Milk's activism in support of gay rights was always a mixed bag to me. He was absolutely right to fight tooth and nail against the anti-gay and homophobic attitudes of Anita Bryant and her fellow True Believers who supported the viciously repressive Proposition 6. Nevertheless, Milk's harsh criticism of gays who wanted to keep quiet about their orientation always made me uncomfortable. That decision should always be a matter of personal choice and not questioned in an attempt to gain more political power, or so it seems to me.
I should observe finally that Harvey Milk was a powerhouse, a charming, charismatic leader, so he was appropriately celebrated in this film. On balance, I give Milk a marginal recommendation, 6 out of 10.