MilkRated R
Running time: 2 hrs 8 mins
Cast:
Sean Penn
Emile Hirsch
Josh Brolin
James Franco
Critical Consensus:
**** out of *****
(92% Fresh Rating!)
Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:
** out of *****
The Premise:
The story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White.
MY REVIEW
Milk is a film that should have been very important to me, and should have last a lasting impact. It really did not do any of those things. After watching the movie, I'm actually a bit surprised by the huge critical support it is getting right now and all the award attention it has. I'm not saying Milk is a bad film, it's actually pretty good. But it just didn't feel important, and it times like these, this movie should have been huge. For me, Milk is like last year's American Gangster (Ha Ha I know they are polar opposites on storylines). Meaning that it was very good on first time viewing but an hour after watching it...it's simply forgettable. That's really disappointing to me.
The movie tells the true story about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a political office in the United States. We are shown the major struggles the gay community faces especially a proposition to take almost every human right away from gays like being able to work anywhere. People were being fired from their jobs for being gay, and people were being fired for just associating with gays. This was all so frustrating to watch, because I just can't stand people creating battles they have no reason to start. Someone being gay has no affect on anyone outside of that person. If you can waste your time and effort on banning rights from gays, then how much of a life are you living for yourself? I could understand if gays were killing people and molesting kids, but my gosh they aren't. They are literally doing NO harm to you...so why fight? Anti-Gay people are just like racists. They are judgmental and ignorant. Spending ALL of your time and even your money to strip rights away from gays when they have done NOTHING to hurt you in any way is pure and utter hatred. Sorry folks, it's true. If you can deny that, than there is something wrong with you. But if you can possibly explain to me the love and support in these things...please tell me...I'm all ears. You know I respect people who just simply don't agree with the lifestyle for their own reasons. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course! I'm more irritated by people and groups physically taking severe action against gays in the way they did in the 70's and now again today. It's sickening. It hurts. Being openly judgmental towards a person is actually a lot more hurtful that most people can every really imagine. It actually hurts more than physical pain.
Yikes, I'm ranting! It almost seems like I'm supporting this film now. I guess that makes me a hypocrite for not loving this movie then right? Well no. Listen the story was great, it really was. But sometimes I think a historically based filmed could actually benefit from a little bit of "Hollywood" as they say. The story was told kind of blandly and moved very slow. It was never fully able to grab a hold of me and reel me in like I was expecting it to do. There was never that emotional and powerful moment. So I think it could have benefited for some Hollywood-ized puffing up of emotions. You know you are supposed to really root for Harvey Milk, but he's kind of portrayed dully. Not to knock Oscar winner Sean Penn (Mystic River, I Am Sam) because he did a great job at performing the character, but he was written so uninspiring and I really hate to say that. Harvey Milk really did change a whole lot of things, but this movie I don't think did him full justice.
Actually there aren't any characters you fully connect with, well at least that I didn't connect with. None of them had that great likability factor because we knew virtually nothing about any of them. Harvey Milk was assassinated, and I'm not ruining a major plot point. You are told this fact in the very beginning of the film. The way the film portrays it, Milk is actually not killed for being gay, he's killed by a man who just fell off the deep end and went a little nuts. But this movie did allow us to invest in these characters, it did not develop a real connection. So when the scene comes where he is killed, it just kind of feels empty. I didn't feel sad (I obviously I'm saddened for the real Harvey Milk) because the movies story didn't really make me care. I don't know it's hard to explain. Because this is a good one time movie.
I'd like to quickly point out Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, American Gangster) and how great I thought he was. This guy has really developed into a fantastic actor. He plays Dan White, the man who kills Harvey Milk. The funny thing is, the only character I felt any connection to and felt bad for was this man and he was the "bad" guy. So I just wanted to applaud Brolin for doing a fantastic job, and I really think he deserves a supporting actor Oscar nomination. James Franco (Spiderman craze)also surprised me and we wasn't bad himself.
So for me, Milk was a good movie but in the end let me down. It has a great story and message to tell it just wasn't told with any real emotional oomph. Oh well, can't win them all.
The movie tells the true story about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a political office in the United States. We are shown the major struggles the gay community faces especially a proposition to take almost every human right away from gays like being able to work anywhere. People were being fired from their jobs for being gay, and people were being fired for just associating with gays. This was all so frustrating to watch, because I just can't stand people creating battles they have no reason to start. Someone being gay has no affect on anyone outside of that person. If you can waste your time and effort on banning rights from gays, then how much of a life are you living for yourself? I could understand if gays were killing people and molesting kids, but my gosh they aren't. They are literally doing NO harm to you...so why fight? Anti-Gay people are just like racists. They are judgmental and ignorant. Spending ALL of your time and even your money to strip rights away from gays when they have done NOTHING to hurt you in any way is pure and utter hatred. Sorry folks, it's true. If you can deny that, than there is something wrong with you. But if you can possibly explain to me the love and support in these things...please tell me...I'm all ears. You know I respect people who just simply don't agree with the lifestyle for their own reasons. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course! I'm more irritated by people and groups physically taking severe action against gays in the way they did in the 70's and now again today. It's sickening. It hurts. Being openly judgmental towards a person is actually a lot more hurtful that most people can every really imagine. It actually hurts more than physical pain.
Yikes, I'm ranting! It almost seems like I'm supporting this film now. I guess that makes me a hypocrite for not loving this movie then right? Well no. Listen the story was great, it really was. But sometimes I think a historically based filmed could actually benefit from a little bit of "Hollywood" as they say. The story was told kind of blandly and moved very slow. It was never fully able to grab a hold of me and reel me in like I was expecting it to do. There was never that emotional and powerful moment. So I think it could have benefited for some Hollywood-ized puffing up of emotions. You know you are supposed to really root for Harvey Milk, but he's kind of portrayed dully. Not to knock Oscar winner Sean Penn (Mystic River, I Am Sam) because he did a great job at performing the character, but he was written so uninspiring and I really hate to say that. Harvey Milk really did change a whole lot of things, but this movie I don't think did him full justice.
Actually there aren't any characters you fully connect with, well at least that I didn't connect with. None of them had that great likability factor because we knew virtually nothing about any of them. Harvey Milk was assassinated, and I'm not ruining a major plot point. You are told this fact in the very beginning of the film. The way the film portrays it, Milk is actually not killed for being gay, he's killed by a man who just fell off the deep end and went a little nuts. But this movie did allow us to invest in these characters, it did not develop a real connection. So when the scene comes where he is killed, it just kind of feels empty. I didn't feel sad (I obviously I'm saddened for the real Harvey Milk) because the movies story didn't really make me care. I don't know it's hard to explain. Because this is a good one time movie.
I'd like to quickly point out Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, American Gangster) and how great I thought he was. This guy has really developed into a fantastic actor. He plays Dan White, the man who kills Harvey Milk. The funny thing is, the only character I felt any connection to and felt bad for was this man and he was the "bad" guy. So I just wanted to applaud Brolin for doing a fantastic job, and I really think he deserves a supporting actor Oscar nomination. James Franco (Spiderman craze)also surprised me and we wasn't bad himself.
So for me, Milk was a good movie but in the end let me down. It has a great story and message to tell it just wasn't told with any real emotional oomph. Oh well, can't win them all.
To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Milk*This is the 168th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.
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