I was very disappointed when Proposition 8 passed early this year in California. For those of you that do not know Proposition 8 makes it a constitutional law banning gay marriage. After this proposition was passed the gay community marched all over California making their voices heard. California has been a forerunner for gay rights since the late 70s, and that was made possible by Harvey Bernard Milk. Milk was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. This movie follows Milk's political life all the way to his death.
The thing I was worried about was that the film was going to focus too much on the aspect of gay rights and Milk's life and story would get lost in the background, but this movie does not do that at all. It tells a beautiful story of Milk's life and what he, and the gay community, went through to get Milk elected to office. Sean Penn does an awesome job as Harvey Milk. As of right now, I would say Penn is the front runner to win the Oscar for best actor. Penn embodies the character and also makes it his own. Also the supporting cast has to be the best I have ever seen. Every actor in this movie does a superb job. Even James Franco does a great job as Scott Smith, one of Milk's lovers. Not just the acting is great but also the way the movie was shot. There is a mix of live footage from what was happening in San Francisco, at the time, and that makes you feel like you are there. The best part of this movie is the last scene with Milk alive. That scene moved me and left my mouth hanging open until the credits started to roll.
Even though this movie sounds perfect there was one major issue of this film and that was the script. The script introduces too many characters and most of them get lost in the mix. It felt like there was too much going on between Milk and the other characters and some of those connections were lost. I know the screenwriter wanted to show everyone that was important in Milk's life but it was too much and the connection between the characters was, some what, lost. That does not mean that cast did not do a great dazzling job, but it was too much to handle and the movie suffered from that.
So far,
Milk is my movie of the year. I know this is one of the first Oscar contenders to come out, but
Milk is the forerunner as of right now. It is interesting to see how far California has come, and after watching this movie you understand what the gay community had to go through to get where they are right now, but after this past election it looks like California has taken a step back in equal rights. Everything that Milk worked for was broken by proposition 8 passing, so if you can find a theater that is playing
Milk please go see it. You will be moved.
