In his newest masterpiece, Gus Van Sant brings the story of Harvey Milk to life. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office as a Supervisor for the city of San Francisco. He became heavily involved in the gay-rights struggles of the time, and was ultimately killed by fellow supervisor Dan White.
In Milk, Sean Penn brings Harvey Milk back to life. If you watch his performance and compare it to old footage of Harvey Milk, Sean Penn's talent will be evident as he gets Milk's body language and speaking style just right. While James Franco and Diego Luna are excellent, Emile Hirsch's superb performance surprised me. His portrayal of Cleve Jones comes off as real and subtle. While the temptation to 'flame out' when playing a flamboyant gay character may have done others in, Hirsch performs brilliantly.
Importantly, the movie shows Harvey Milk as a man with faults, while respecting his legacy and the weight of the issues he championed. From beginning to end, the story feels authentic and allows you to enjoy the happy parts of Milk's life, feel his struggles, and ultimately mourn his tragic death, which plays out in a beautiful ending sequence.
Milk is highly recommended, so get out and watch it this weekend. I would love to hear what you think of the movie, so voice off in the comments section!
The Gus Van Sant biopic Milk opens to a wide-release today.
– Andy
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