Milk (Universal)

Author: stereonerd [11-07-2009 10:20]

An admission right upfront: most biopics suck. Another: friends of mine whose opinion I respect rate this film. The life of a critic can be harsh.

This is the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay member of local government ever appointed in the US. Of course it’s also the story of the gay rights movement in the mid-to-late ’70s and its fight against human rights violations by conservative political foes.

It’s an interesting story, as is Milk’s own, and it’s a tragic one, too: along with the San Francisco mayor at the time, Milk was gunned down by a disgruntled former official.

The documentary film ‘The Life & Times Of Harvey Milk’ tells this story stupendously well. (See my review of the reissue of this DVD from last month’s blog). In fact, I would go so far as to call it one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen, so well does it capture the tumult of the times and the tragedy of the story.

‘Milk’, the Hollywood re-telling of this story, in contrast, doesn’t get close to the truth and power of that film. It’s a case of truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case, a rather tepid Hollywood script fails to deliver.

While we spend time with Harvey Milk’s character, played brilliantly by Sean Penn, the episodic nature of the film (which keeps cutting back and forth) destroys any sense of narrative forward momentum. While the depiction of Milk’s gay lifestyle stops short of being cliched or stereotypical, it also fails to deliver any real insight into his life. Even the centre of his activist activities – his Castro St camera business – looks wrong.

Don’t take my word for it, though, especially if you like biopics. Gus Van Sant is a revered director who has had pretty much blanket approval for this film, and apparently even the script won an Oscar, so who am I to complain.

Extras include interviews with some of Milk’s original colleagues, and these are quite insightful. It’s a drama with little overt action, but both visual rendition on DVD and audio are acceptable. GARY STEEL

2.5 Stars