Rita has seen Milk. So what’s the verdict? Did Sean Penn deserve the Oscar? He certainly lends a delightful humanity to Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay city supervisor for the city of San Francisco. Tragically, he assassinated while in office by Dan White, his former colleague and nemesis. The biopic charts Milk’s migration from New York to San Francisco with his lover, Cleve Jones (played by Emile Hirsch). They open a camera store in the Castro district that blossoms into a close-knit community and drop-in center for the wayward. Milk rallies the nascent gay community take back the streets from the bigots. In the process of his grass-roots organizing, he becomes politicized and decides to run for public office several times.
The film explores some of Milk’s closest relationships and how they suffered as a result of his political ambitions.
Although the setting and realism of the film was spot-on, it lacked a strong dramatic arc. It reminded me of a made-for-tv movie. The documentary, The Life and Time of Harvey Milk still wins hands-down for its gritty and unsentimental portrayal of a remarkable man. And yes, Sean Penn certainly deserved the Oscar. He is in almost every scene and he captures the magnetism and sensitivity of Milk. Josh Brolin is also very compelling as the cowardly assassin, Dan White.
Milk is an important film that introduces a new generation to a gay icon and hero.
