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Milk
by Universal Studios
| List Price: |
$19.98 |
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$14.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$4.99 (24%) |
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DVD
Universal Studios
Publisher: Universal Studios
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Actors: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Alison Pill, Diego Luna
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.
When a famous person, like the nation's first openly gay male city supervisor, inspires an acclaimed book (The Mayor of Castro Street) and Oscar-winning documentary (The Times of Harvey Milk), a biopic can seem superfluous at best. Taking over from Oliver Stone and Bryan Singer, Gus Van Sant, whose previous picture was the more experimental Paranoid Park, directs with such grace, he renders the concern moot. Unlike Randy Shilts' biography, which begins at the beginning, Dustin Lance Black's script starts in 1972, just as Milk (Sean Penn, in a finely-wrought performance) and his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco, equally good), move from New York to San Francisco. Milk opens a camera shop on the Castro that becomes a safe haven for victims of discrimination, convincing him to enter politics. With each race he runs, Harvey's relationship with Scott unravels further. Finally, he wins, and the real battle begins as Milk takes on Proposition 6, which denies equal rights to homosexuals. He does what he can to rally politicians, like George Moscone (Victor Garber) and Dan White (Josh Brolin). While the mayor is willing, the conservative board member has reservations, and after Milk fails to back one of White’s pet projects, the die is cast, leading to the murder of two beloved figures. If Van Sant’s film captures Harvey in all his complexities (he was, for instance, a very funny man), Milk also serves as an enticement to grass-roots activism, showing how one regular guy elevated everyone around him, notably Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Released in the wake of Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage amendment, Milk is inspirational in the best way: one person can and did make a difference, but the struggle is far from over. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Get to Know the Cast From Milk
Sean Penn (Harvey Milk)
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Josh Brolin (Dan White)
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James Franco (Scott Smith)
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Beyond Milk on DVD 
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Stills from Milk (Click for larger image)
| Customer Reviews: |
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| This is a great movie - especially for teaching students |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I teach a health policy class and one of the things we learn about is political advocacy. Harvey Milk was a true grassroots political advocate! This movie shows this role far better than I could ever lecture on the topic. Also - students (college) like a variety of teaching methods so using this movie paired with a discussion about the role of a political advocate - the challenges, the triumphs, the techniques, etc is fabulous! The students like it - and I like it. I do put in a disclaimer re: the religious right bashing, gay bashing, and display of gay intimacy (which by the way is very tastefully done) so students are prepared and may choose to opt out or close their eye/ears during these scenes (so far no one has). These are adult students by the way. I lost my orginal copy - so am ordering this agian. {sigh} I know I'll find it as soon as the order goes through - doesn't that often happen?
But it - watch it with friends - have a lively discussion about political advocacy, the environmental factors that drove Mr. Milk to become so invovled, and the enviornmental factors that lead to is demise.
Unlike a previous poster - I liked the back and forth with the news footage and the movie - it gives credibility to the re-telling of Mr. Milk's legacy.
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| Good But Not Great |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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The fact that Sean Penn is brilliant and one of the greatest living actors is not in dispute. The fact that the story of Harvey Milk is historically significant and brought about life altering legislation and hope for so many citizens who were treated as criminals and harrassed by the very people who should have been protecting them is not in question. That the Harvey Milk story was an inspiration not only to gays from the US but also gays from the world at large is acknowledged. These are all undeniable truths.
However, as a film, this felt lacking. It succeeded in telling the story but for me it failed with not fleshing out the characters particularly Harvey Milk. I just didn't feel connected to any of the characters and on a personal note, what a waste of the talents of the wonderful Allison Pill. I think I would have enjoyed more from an hour long History Channel program.
As other reviewers have said before me, many people are confusing this important man and time in American history and equating this with a great film. It's not.
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| excellent, but not a "classic" |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This is an extremely good film (on a four-star scale, I'd give it 3.5), but not the masterpiece it's been called.
As with virtually every biopic ever made, the writer is obliged to create artificial-sounding dialog that sums up what's been going on prior to the current scene, or clumsily reveals a character's thoughts. "Milk" is better than most, but it still has its share.
One of the script's good points is its failure to demonize Dan White, who's portrayed as a thoroughly confused and unbalanced human being. (It's not surprising he eventually committed suicide.) Though obviously a queer-hater, one gets the feeling that White's murder of Milk and Moscone was primarily more to his being politically thwarted and "humiliated". Even had the conflict not been over gay rights, he probably would killed whomever he thought had harmed him. (Moscone wasn't gay.) He did not understand the nature of politics.
Harvey Milk seems to have understood, though. He's willing to say what White wants to hear, then reverse himself.
My only gripe is the obvious fiction of presenting what was going through Harvey Milk's mind when he was killed. It's more silly than anything (he apparently associates his murder with Tosca's death), and it hurts the tone of a film that gives at least the illusion of accuracy. It also comes dangerously close to portraying Milk as a martyr.
Fine performances all around, especially Penn's and Brolin's. I don't know why people dump on Sean Penn. In this film, he quite disappears into the role. What more do you want from an actor?
For those straight viewers uncomfortable not only with men kissing each other, but with male effeminacy... There are all kinds of homosexual men, ranging from transvesites and swishes to men of ordinary (sometimes hyper) masculinity who are not easily recognized. Thirty years ago, the latter tended to remain invisible and not take part in politics. Which is why you don't see many of them in this film.
Highly recommended -- especially to those people who ought to see it, but will refuse to.
Beautiful Blu-ray transfer.
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| EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES ENHANCE THIS BIO! |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I enjoyed 'Milk' because the performances by Penn and company, but the film as a whole just didn't reach greatness for me. The story is very sad and even though I was around in those times I was too young and preoccupied with my youth to understand what it was like then.
The film gets a big boost from Penn, Franco and Brolin, but some characters portrayed seem cartoonish. The film starts out strong, sags in the middle and gives us the sad ending. It's a film worth watching, but I doubt I'll give it a second look. It is certainly a story worth telling.
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| Straight out of Bio-pic 101 |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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The Bottom Line:
Milk begins with the death of its main character (de rigueur for every film in the genre since Gandhi), goes back to when he was a nobody, charts his rise to power and the unfortunate effect it had on his personal relationships (though this time the "long-suffering wife" character is a man!) and then sends him to heaven with the wings of martyrdom on his shoulders; this reluctance to rise above the formula of the execrable biopic genre (it even follows the tradition of naming the film as simply the character's surname) dooms the film to mediocrity despite good performances by Penn and a terrific Brolin.
2.5/4
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