   Oscar® Winner for Best Actor in a leading role and Best Writing (Original Screenplay)Nominee for Best Picture, Directing, Actor in a supporting role, Costume Design, Film Editing, and Music (original score) 
MilkMPAA Rating:
 for language, some sexual content and brief violence.Reviewed by: Ethan Samuel Rodgers Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Biography, Drama
Length:
2 hr. 8 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
December 5, 2008
November 26, 2008 (limited)  
Relevant Issues
About murder in the Bible What’s wrong with being gay? Answer What about gays needs to change? Answer Can a gay or lesbian person go to heaven? Answer What should be the attitude of the church toward homosexuals and homosexuality? Answer Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality A single man or woman can help change the world. Read about some who did with faith and God's help…
“Never blend in” As I watched this film, I thought back on other films portraying great men and women in history—great films and biographical accounts that tell the stories of their lives. They tell their triumphs, their accomplishments, the events that surrounded their lives and how they affected the world around them. There’s one thing missing from the list I just put forth, however: their faults and tribulations. The hard times, the downfalls, their flaws—quite simply, what makes them human beings. Gus Van Sant’s biopic “Milk” suffers greatly in this fashion. Without conflict, there can be no climax. Without trials there can be no victory. A “friend, lover, unifier, politician, fighter, icon, inspiration, and hero” is how the movie was meant to show Harvey Milk, the first outspoken gay who was elected to public office, and who attempted to change the world around him as a gay rights activist during the 1970’s in San Francisco. And Van Sant did just that. The film begins in 1970 just before Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) moves to San Francisco. Milk moves to Castro Street, a neighborhood with an increasing influx of gays and lesbians, and opens a camera shop, Castro Camera. The movie develops his views as an openly gay man who becomes more and more opposed to the idea of keeping his life and others lives that share his “values” a secret. This influences him to run for City Supervisor, and Van Sant follows his campaign for change and for understanding. Characterized by influential speeches and humorous moments true to Harvey Milk, after unsuccessfully attempting to gain the City Supervisor seat in 1973, and the two terms following that, he finally garners enough attention from the media and the voters and is elected City Supervisor in 1977. With the supporting cast anchored by James Franco (Scott Smith, Milk’s lover), as well as Emile Hirsch (Cleve Jones, political activist and advisor) as well as Josh Brolin (Dan White, political rival and antagonist), the film carries a heavy bias against those opposing the gay movement that climaxes in 1977 with Milk’s election and ultimately his assassination in 1978. This is the greatest problem with this film: its bias. Although a film with this cast and this message could simply tell the story of a man who lived a controversial life, I, as a Christian and film enthusiast, knew it couldn’t be left at that. It would be too simple and too objective to do so. In an age where films such as “W.”, “Religulous,” and “Hamlet 2” are shown to mock Christians and their prejudicial views, it is difficult to expect anything more. Van Sant places Milk on a pedestal. Unwavering in his enthusiasm, his beliefs, and his attitude, Milk carries on through opposition from both sides, but never falters. With his lover, Smith (Franco) at his side, he conquers the world by taking on the world. So where’s the conflict? Therein lies the political message, that people who don’t support this sweeping movement don’t understand. They’re blind, unreasonable, and unchanging in the face of reason and knowledge. Milk’s cohorts are never mistaken, he is never guilty of any wrongs, and those that oppose him are portrayed as fools. The film’s antagonist, Dan White (Josh Brolin) is in fact a Catholic politician, who opposes Milk and what he stands for. In a particular scene, Brolin is having his son baptized, and Milk, out of the goodness of his heart, attends to support his political rival. Of course, Milk, calm and reasonable, simply turns the other cheek when both White and his wife oppose Milk’s presence at the baptism or even the church itself. I think this is a great problem in many people’s minds about Christians. This generalization that we hate gays and homosexuals, or don’t understand them, or simply don’t even consider them human. But I know that, as a Christian, God has instructed us to love everyone, this obviously includes homosexuals. I’ve always told people “I don’t disapprove of people, and I don’t judge them, but I don’t approve of their lifestyle, and I don’t tell them I have nothing against it.” Men are all created equal. Every man, woman, and child of every race, religion, and even sexuality, has been created in the image of God. But every man is just that, a man—fallen, a sinner, one who cannot reach the kingdom of heaven through his own righteousness. Even the greatest of men in the Bible fell: David, Solomon, Moses. Not only were these men not perfect, they were sinners, and the Bible did not hide this. Surprisingly, the Gospel portrays their faults in an obvious light so that we can see and learn from their mistakes, see that although these were great men, or even men “after God’s own heart,” they were far from perfect. However, Harvey Milk, as far as Van Sant was concerned, was not David or Solomon, or really a man at all. He was the Christ figure of the gay movement, and symbolized the perfection of this movement and its followers, disregarding all the problems that go along with it even today. Filled with offensive language, multiple gay scenes of men openly kissing, and constant sexual references to help move along the theme that homosexuality is not just “ok,” it’s becoming the norm, and there is nothing wrong with it, this film is far past offensive, and I can honestly say I only saw it to write this review objectively and reasonably. Just as “Brokeback Mountain” failed as a film, in my mind, because it gave no heed to reason or actual filmmaking, but rather simply stuffed a message down our throat, so does “Milk” fail as a biopic because it is biased, overly offensive, and simply untrue to the story of a man’s life we may never truly know (as far as the big screen is concerned). Van Sant, along with the writers of “Milk,” sacrificed a story, a film, and a biography, to make sure that you understood after watching this that “there’s nothing wrong with being gay.” In contrast, God's chosen people in Old Testament times were required to strive for pure and holy lives and were thus reminded, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act” (Lev. 20:13). Violence: Mild / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Extreme What’s wrong with being gay? Answer What about gays needs to change? Answer What should be the attitude of the church toward homosexuals and homosexuality? Answer Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - I disagree with the reviewer that this film presented Harvey Milk as a Christ figure or that it bashes Christians. In fact, Harvey Milk was not presented as a Christ figure in this movie. He became so involved in his politics that his first boyfriend left him and his second boyfriend, already mentally disturbed, committed suicide. That doesn't sound like a perfect man to me. Positive - Firstly, I noticed that in the review of this film, you mentioned Dan White and his wife being offended at Harvey Milk's presence at their son's baptism. I believe the reviewer may have missed the scene immediately before, wherein White explicitly invites Milk to the ceremony, with the intention of getting his support on the mental hospital issue. Positive - I really liked this movie. Biopics tend to be annoying sometimes, but not this one, even though the story is really simple. I love the cast, Emile Hirsch is one of my favorite actor, and I appreciate James Franco and Sean Penn. There's no explicit sex scenes in this film, which I think is good because nowadays you find this kind of scenes in many films! You see Harvey kissing men just a few times, and I think twice he's in bed with his boyfriend but they're not doing anything! The story is very moving. The guy who killed Harvey and the mayor was only sentenced to 7 years of prison, and released after 5! It's disgusting, people who judged him must have thought it wasn't such a bad crime as he had killed a gay person! Otherwise how could you explain such a weak punishment? Lawyers said the murderer had problems with his wife, he wasn't himself and nothing was premeditated. Yeah right... Everone should see this movie, it shows homosexuals are totally normal people and often victims of discrimination. Neutral
Neutral - While it is certainly not the best film of the year, it was definitely well done. Sean Penn deserves an Oscar nomination for his role as Harvey Milk. He's that good, even when he succombs to the occasional gay stereotype. I wish that there had been more of a back story about the man, seeing as this is a bio-pic. Other than that, it was good. The film is obviously a propoganda piece, but it does hold your interest. Some may be offended by the film's content—it is not as graphic as “Brokeback Mountain,” if that's what you're thinking. There were a few questionable moments in the film, but if you know what you're getting in to, and if you are a film buff who can leave your judgments aside and appreciate the story, go ahead and see it. However, if you have personal convictions regarding the subject matter, stay away. Another thing: it seems as though my fellow Christian film reviewers are upset that the film portrays negative Christian stereotypes. Maybe if more Christians showed the love of Christ to people like Harvey Milk, we wouldn't have that problem. There is a right way and a wrong way to “judge” others. However, as it stands, most Christians cannot resist the temptation to be self-righteous, and as a result, Hollywood portrays us as bigoted and small minded. Until we all learn to follow Christ's example of love, we have no room to complain when Hollywood throws the occasional barb our way. If you do decide to see this film, keep that in mind. Negative
Negative - The reviewer makes some excellent points not just about “Milk,” but about film biographies in general. Van Zandt has a personal stake as well as a political stake in the film's reputation. In his earlier films I thought Van Zandt's touch was too light, too withdrawn; not anymore; I felt like a punching bag watching this one. Comments from young people
Positive - “By imbuing the characters with humanity and personality, Van Sant avoids the obvious traps of making Milk a sycophantic tribute or a slickly made piece of propaganda. The story sticks as close to the facts as any bio-pic I can think of and Van Sant uses plenty of genuine '70s stock footage to amplify the period verisimilitude.” —James Berardinelli Movie Critics
…Abhorrent… Strong humanist worldview mixed with very strong politically correct pro-homosexual content (including some crude elements), as well as many anti-God and anti-Christian statements… …Almost the definition of a specialized audience film, this Focus release looks to perform strongly in urban and university-adjacent areas but will have trouble crossing over to a public not into gay, political and social-vanguard issues.… …Sean Penn is spectacular.… ‘Milk’ has one of the finest ensemble casts this year and a magnificent, career-topping performance by Sean Penn, who disappears into the title role.… Comments from non-viewers
I am writing to express appreciation for the reviewer's analysis of this movie and its subject matter. I think the review expresses a Biblical perspective on homosexuality, which is the essential theme of this movie about gay activist Harvey Milk. As one who has written reviews, I was able to relate to the manner in which the movie was explained. I have seen bits of the movie, but not its entirety, for the simple reason that the thematic content is so offensive. I have a high school classmate who is openly lesbian and married another woman, and I appreciate this friend very much, but I have made it clear to her that this lifestyle is contrary to Biblical morality. I agree, to the extent that I have seen segments of “Milk,” that the movie endows Milk, through Sean Penn's skillfull performance, with righteousness that he did not have, no matter how sincere were his beliefs and endeavors. Honestly, how can anyone say this movie is positive and say they have a genuine faith in Christ and you're happy with your life? How can you say this movie does anything BUT bash Christian ethics, attacks the way God wants this world to work, and pervert what love truly is? I don't need to see this movie to know it's crap. Why would you put money toward this? So Hollywood can pump out more and keep saying it's ok that gays keep doing what they're doing? They're killing themselves! The average age of a gay is 42 years, and you can't tell me that's what God wants for them; what He created them for! So don't support that! Christians who say this is a good movie: pick a side. There is no way it can be supporting homosexuality and corruption and not be attacking God's morals. |
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