Van Sant's realistic approach eschews most biopic clichés

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2009)

Many people thought that Brokeback Mountain would be the first gay-themed film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Alas, it was not meant to be. Now Milk has taken its shot but despite it earnestness, it too has fallen short.
Milk had a bit more going for it than Brokeback in terms of public acceptance. Its principal advantage was that Harvey Milk (very well-played by Sean Penn) is an extremely likable character who championed a cause that most Americans were in favor of (we find out in "Milk" that even Ronald Reagan was opposed to the bigoted Proposition 6). Brokeback, on the other hand focused on two closeted gay characters, one who ends up consorting with male prostitutes. Despite the tragic murder of Harvey Milk, the film's theme is a positive and uplifting one; Brokeback on the other hand was more tragic and downbeat.
The film's screenplay relies on actual tape recordings recorded shortly before Milk's death. Much of the story is held together by Milk's posthumous narration. Some critics objected to the use of this device but I thought it worked well along with director Van Slant's creative use of old documentary footage from that era.
The film begins with Milk at age 40, just as he is about to leave for San Francisco. (Check out Wikipedia for his earlier biographybelieve it or not, he supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 elections!). While Milk's private life is examined in some detail, most of the film focuses on his political activism.
Milk is most successful when it avoids (as one critic puts it) "agenda-driven agitprop". The best scenes are the most historical and revelatory: Milk's rejection of established gay leaders (the leading gay newspaper, The Advocate initially supports straight candidates when Milk starts running for office), the initiation of a blacklist of businesses that are hostile to gays and his ability to control angry crowds of gays during emotionally charged street demonstrations.
The strongest part of the film involves Milk challenging the proponents of Proposition 6 and successfully defeating a bill that had the potential to erode constitutional freedoms (Milk has the courage to go face to face in hostile venues with John Briggs, the California State Senator, primarily responsible for championing Proposition 6).
The film is less successful in the depiction of Milk's failed campaigns for political office (basically due to the lack of a primary antagonist such as an Anita Bryant/John Briggs character introduced in the film's second half).
Milk's personal life revolved around three main characters: his first lover Scott Smith (a character I remember little about); Cleve Jones (a flamboyant street activist who helps Milk on his campaign and who's a prominent presence throughout the story) and Jack Lira (Milk's second lover, emotionally insecure, who commits suicide after feeling that Milk is neglecting him). Some critics questioned why Milk stuck with Lira for so long. It's explained simply during the film: Milk needed someone who wasn't involved in politics who he could relax with after a grinding day at the office.
Milk is bolstered tremendously by an extremely strong performance by Josh Brolin as Dan White, Harvey Milk's assassin. Brolin looks like White and conveys the deep contempt and menace under the surface. Ironically, Milk predicts his assassination by anti-gay fanatics. But White's anger toward Milk is much more personal: he's a disgruntled, jealous colleague who not only murders Milk but shoots the straight mayor as well!
Milk has a great look to it. It has a simplistic but strong message: intolerance is unacceptable. While most of the characters that revolve around Milk are not depicted as saints, they basically all have hearts of gold (that's perhaps Milk's principal weakness). Furthermore, the activists weren't as well-behaved in real-life as the film suggests (anti-Proposition 6 proponents sometimes reacted violently during street demonstrations).
Now that the The Academy Awards are in, I must confess that I believed 'Milk' had a chance for best picture. But looking back, it's obvious that it's a picture that wasn't big enough in scope to take the top award. Nonetheless, Director Gus Van Sant managed to avoid turning 'Milk' into a hagiography and admirably eschewed the kind of sentimental plotting that has sunk other biopics in the past.