Got Milk?

Rating: 8/10 (22 November 2010)

The overall plot within the movie was kind of rough; it did not really measure up to what I thought I was in for. The theme I predicted to find was a series of events and much more gay abuse, basically much more violence as a whole. It turned out that it was primarily based upon a political battle and continuing to get knocked down before a big win. Although Harvey Milk claimed to be fighting for the gay community, one would think there would be more community fulfilled activities than the few that were shown during the film. Politics is not my niche, so the movie tended to drag on and on with continued candidacies and loses. It felt like the film was replaying over and over for about half the movie. The gay community always had Harvey's back, but it would have been nice to see more people come together than for a rally, a riot, a parade, and his assassination. The acting is what saved the film, without the phenomenal acting of Sean Penn, James Franco, and Emile Hirsch; this presentation would have had me sleeping before halfway in. Sean Penn takes on this role and cherishes it. You would think he's been a gay rights activist his whole life. He takes on the role so passionately and manipulates your emotions to be the same as his. It is rare to see a politician be so passionate about something these days and Americans would be lucky to see someone as passionate as Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk. All of Sean Penn's supporting staff was amazing as well. James Franco in particular ages about ten years throughout the film and his maturity through every one of those years is heavily recognizable. Although I'm not too familiar with many gay couples from personal experiences the chemistry between Sean Penn and James Franco is unmatchable to any couples I've seen before, in film or in reality. These two men express a flirtatious vibe when having fun, the seriousness of having a confrontation, and an unparallel love for each other when looking at each other and kissing each other. My girlfriend says there's nothing for passionate than two men really kissing each other, and after seeing this I actually agree. The only performance that wasn't up to par was Josh Brolin as Dan White. The character as well as the acting was just stale all around. Throughout the film I was just waiting to get to the next scene because I was tired of hearing him talking. Even his murders of the Mayor and Harvey Milk were non-sholant and boring. Someone would think when someone in a film has a gun that it would be exciting. The historical aspect in Milk is nothing but accurate as all these events happened in reality. During the 60's and 70's gays would take a tremendous amount of abuse from other citizens and even public personnel, like police. The film shows real footage from this time period where gays are being violently abused and groups being stuffed into police vans. To make sure the film was historically accurate as possible the film crew asked Anne Kronenberg, Danny Nicoletta, and Cleve Jones to come on set and give their input when filming the movie. They were all important parts of the movement back then as well as depicted in the film. They were asked to include chants that were being used back then, to insure pinpoint accuracy. One of only problems with the accuracy about the film is what they left out about Dan White, he was depicted as lost and evil, but in reality he was a regular with a family to support. He tried everything he could to make more money and even started a chip stand. In reality he also supported almost all of Milk's gay friendly resolutions, as well as, went out of his way to find out what gay people thought on situations. Thus, Milk is a good movie to start out with that is turned into a great movie with performances like Sean Penn's. Gay, straight, or bisexual Milk is defiantly worth a watch as it is touching and powerful. Emotions like yours with get tied in to the characters of the film and you'll fell every tear, chant, and gun blast.