Milk, the newest film from Gus Van Sant about the charismatic force that was Harvey Milk, will leave you feeling inspired, touched, and full of life. It might come with a few tears, there is no secret about the ending, but every one of them is earned and elicited from perfect execution.
I liked Milk more than I thought I would for a few reasons. One, Gus Van Sant is not what I would consider consistent filmmaker. By this I mean his approach and story choice, not his talent. (Wes Anderson, too gifted for his own good, keeps making the same movie, so I'm not knocking Van Sant, I just don't go running around watching movies because he directed them.) I was uncertain about what what the film might be like. Two, bio pics get under my skin with their formula — rise to power, abuse of power, demise — and since you almost always know how they will end, I feel as if I never need to see them again, let alone finish them. Milk lets these issues flow behind it like paper streamers; they're attached, but the film is much too far ahead for them to get in the way.
Milk is what you'd expect, only better. If you think it will be okay, it will be good, great, perfect even. It is a gorgeous representation of a time, city, and legend. Harvey Milk was a man like any other, so his utter perfection in this film (he's never mean, unpredictable, or wrong), is surely an exaggeration of the truth, but if you're bogged down by fact this may not be the movie for you in the firs place.
I'm curious about how straight men will feel about Milk. It's so full of love and romance, and all of it between guys. As a viewer, I was equally engaged watching men kiss and roll around in bed, as I am when a guy and gal, or even two women (I'm talking about cinema here) do the same. Let me know what you think.
On a side note I would like to recommend a little film called The Assassination of Richard Nixon. The main character Samuel J. Bicke, played by Sean Penn with astounding awkwardness, seems related to his Harvey Milk somehow, minus the super powers. Nixon also comes with a tape recorder and an art department dedicated to the seventies.
Milk Trailer
Assassination of Richard Nixon Trailer
2 comments:
I really liked it too. I attribute a lot of my like to Sean Penn's performance. He really gets into the life of the character and the reason I liked Milk so much was because I understood the perseverance, determination, and loving spirit of Harvey Milk. I also saw Mystic River recently and was floored again by Sean Penn's performance.
I haven't seen that yet. I'm putting it on my Netflix que this instant.
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