Milk

Since there has been such a lull in posts of the Everyman Critics i thought that i might start to post reviews of some movies that i've watched over the past year that i have yet to either thrust upon my fellow Everyman or have thought were noteworthy and should be watched.

-dan

In keeping with the most recent post of the 2010 Oscars i thought i'd like look back to last years nominees and winner of Best Picture. The remaining nominee for Best Picture is Milk. This is a movie that won Sean Penn the award of Best Lead Actor and justly so. (though honestly it was a toss up for me between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler) It also netted a nomination for Best Supporting Actor to Josh Brolin. While i think that this is a wonderful movie, it is not a movie that i think will be reviewed by the Everyman Critics as the content is one that could divide us more than any other movie that we have watched so far and the vitriol that could be spewed might really take us over the edge. So...on to the review

Milk (2008)
TIME: 128 minutes
GENRE: Drama
MPAA RATING: R
LANGUAGE: English
DIRECTOR: Gus Van Sant
STARRING:
Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin

RATING: 8/10

OVERVIEW:
Based on the life of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, Milk follows his life from his 40th birthday to his untimely death.

REVIEW:
This biopic about the first openly gay elected official is wonderfully shot and acted. Weaving archival footage into the story it paints a picture of a man willing to die for his beliefs and who ultimately was murdered for his activism. Tremendously well acted by every actor in the picture this movie is just as good as other critically acclaimed biopics recently released such as Walk the Line and Ray. Sean Penn gives such a wonderful performance in fact, that when watching Milk following the documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, it felt like Penn was channeling Milk. And just as 'Walk the Line' got much of it's gravitas and realism from the love story of Johnny Cash and June Carter, Milk becomes more than just a story about an activist for gay rights through it's portrayal of some of Harvey Milk's relationships. One thing that i thought was interesting in this movie is that even though it does address Dan White's murder of Harvey Milk it does not portray White as a monster like so many other director's might, but as a man who felt betrayed and acted upon that emotion. Overall, i highly recommend this movie, unless the topic of gay rights is something that offends you.