Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Seems like it was just yesterday that he said "Those guys are fags!": "Milk"

Yep, Sean Penn is all growns up (and he's growns up and he's growns up).

While I think Gus Van Sant has made a bunch of crap lately, it was hard to refuse this movie given the raves for Penn. Makes sense he would go for something like this. After four Oscar noms and a win, this guy wants to cement himself as one of the greats. So yeah ... you gotta go gay.

Actually, Harvey Milk's story is impressive, especially when you get a good look at how the San Francisco of the '70s wasn't like today. Our story follows Milk as he and his new boyfriend (James Franco) move to S.F., start a camera shop and get involved in local politics for the most basic of reasons: to give a voice to people like them.

Milk is the candidate, his beau Scott is the campaign manager, and nothing goes anywhere for a while (as we learn through the device of Milk telling his story into a tape recorder). In time, though, Milk -- with the help of a new manager (Emile Hirsch) and despite a new boyfriend (Diego Luna) -- wins a seat in city government. So does Irish Catholic conservative Dan White (Josh Brolin), which creates a tense dynamic and ultimately brings a pretty sad end to the story.

I never saw the documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk," which I've heard is pretty good (and, I just saw, can be seen on IMDb, which is kind of cool). So it's hard to say how faithful "Milk" is to the real story, and more importantly, how realistic the portrayals are.

Regardless, Penn is impressive, and it's more than "Hey, he's kissing a dude!" I liked how Penn showed not only a unique combination of indignation, playfulness and defiance, but also how Milk was plenty flawed. The guy was a shameless flirt who picked up guys justlikethat. And once his star rose, he wasn't so different from other politicians. Yes, his was a truly unique cause. But his behavior once in office? Not so different with the posturing, deal-making and threats. It definitely would have been interesting to see Milk after several years on the job.

Some other good turns here. Franco -- who never wowed me as an actor -- does some of his best work, and Hirsch and Luna are both good for what they're supposed to me. I definitely believed everyone was gay, yet nobody seemed too over the top. Brolin also wasn't bad as the twitchy antagonist -- sort of. Up until the end, you actually sympathize with him quite a bit, which is a little surprising.

Ultimately, though, it's Penn's show, and no question he'll be rewarded with another Oscar nomination. Is it his best performance ever? Hard to say. I never saw "I Am Sam" -- nor wanted to -- or "Sweet and Lowdown." "Mystic River" was impressive, as was "Dead Man Walking." And right about here you're expecting a Spicoli reference. Uh-uh. Too easy. Especially since I'm guessing you forgot all about "Shanghai Surprise." (No punchline needed.)

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