Milk (2008)

	Directed by: Gus Van Sant	COUNTRY USA GENRE Biography/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Milk RUNNING TIME 128 minutes
	Produced by: Bruce Cohen Dan Jinks Michael London
	Written by: Dustin Lance Black

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Harvey Milk	Sean Penn	½
Cleve Jones	Emile Hirsch
Dan White	Josh Brolin	½
Jack Lira	Diego Luna
Scott Smith	James Franco	½
Anne Kronenberg	Alison Pill
Mayor George Moscone	Victor Garber
Senator John Briggs	Densi O'Hare
Dick Pabich	Joseph Cross	½
Rick Stokes	Stephen Spinella
Danny Nicoletta	Lucas Grabeel
Jim Rivaldo	Brandon Boyce

Review

At the start of Gus Van Sant's newest contribution to the mission of raising awareness around the position of homosexuality in the Western world, you might feel a little taken aback at the sight of Sean Penn and James Franco making out – and enjoying it. Penn would not have been my first choice to play a homosexual, but I soon realised that it probably was my memory of All the King's Men that had affected my faith in him. Ironically, there is actually a hint of resemblance between the two men he portrays in these two films, but to my delight, Penn shrugs off the bad memories of Willie Stark and propels Milk forward (along with the rest of the great cast) as if there were no distinction between the veteran actor and the gay political icon.

Van Sant structures his film traditionally within the realm of the biopic genre, probably certain that the potency of the story and the character study will be enough. In all fairness, I agree that it is, and as a character portrait and a historical and political account, Milk works well. Harvey Milk's importance within the gay community in the United States is well accounted for without turning into too much of a worship or becoming too internalised. Still, I can't refrain from feeling Van Sant should have done more with what he has at his disposal. Or less, to be more precise. The narrative twists and turns constantly, sometimes without much significance or progress, and the characters are numerous and unevenly balanced. The bottleneck here is the editing, which should have been tighter in order to avoid a few idling periods.

To Van Sant's defence: he conducts the important narrative junctures remarkably well. The entire finale is very effective and emotional, and there is also an added element of suspense, cleverly created by letting us know the outcome all along, while keeping us expecting the unexpected at any moment. Of course, those of you who know your history won't be affected by such film tricks, but that is exactly one of Milk's strengths: it works both as a suspense story and as an important historical account.

As previously mentioned, the acting is the best element in Milk. Sean Penn's performance is consummate, and he looks remarkably much like Mr. Harvey Milk himself. James Franco and Emile Hirsch are fine as Harvey's disciples, but I want to lavish extra praise on Josh Brolin. Not only is he able to attract sympathy for the bad guy through subtly portraying how the little deflections in his life contribute to pushing him over the edge, but he also is about to establish himself as one of the most diverse and probing character actors in Hollywood at the moment – cf. No Country For Old Men and W.