First rate story of a very important man

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2008)

My wife and I saw Milk yesterday at the Castro Theater in SF -- right around the corner from Harvey's camera shop, where I met Harvey in 1973-4. For those of us who learned from Harvey about what it meant to be gay in America at that time, and who learned genuine acceptance and love, this movie is wonderfully evocative.
Harvey Milk was truly extraordinary, as were the times. This film portrays it all, for the most part accurately. Even the dog poop scene (no real spoiler here), which I had forgotten but remembered as soon as the scene began, was dead on. Van Sant is also very faithful to location, which for me, someone who lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, was really wonderful. Events were recreated where they actually happened. Sean Penn wears the same outfits Harvey wore for the Gay Rights Parade and other moments. It's great to see Cleve Jones, still a gay-rights leader, in a "starring" role.
Why no 10 out of 10? Well, I thought Sean Penn was great, spot on, but it wasn't the earth-shattering performance I expected. Penn absorbed and became Milk, which is what he does so well. No disappointment here, since the role is not earth-shattering. Harvey grew on you; he wasn't Dr. King or Bobby Kennedy.
Second and more significant, the parts that weren't so accurate. Most important here, another extraordinary man, George Moscone, relegated to being a reflection of Harvey, told what to do and how to act. Mayor Moscone was not the leader of a revolution like Harvey, but he was an extraordinarily skilled and enlightened man, a full ally of Harvey's, not the implicitly reluctant guy who needed Harvey's push. Nor was Dan White's resignation aftermath completely accurate -- 'nuff said. Moscone too was a hero, and even though the movie was about Harvey, Van Sant would have done better by giving full (albeit brief) honor to George Moscone too.