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Van Sant's 'Milk' Is A Vivid, Nuanced Biopic

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By CHRISTY LEMIRE

The Associated Press

Published: December 11, 2008

Updated:

Gus Van Sant has spent the past few years making dreamy, amorphous meditations on life and death that seemingly were intended for his hardcore fans, himself, and no one else.

"Gerry," "Elephant," "Last Days," "Paranoid Park" - all beautifully, defiantly languid works of art that most audiences would dismiss for their pretensions.

With "Milk," though, Van Sant boldly returns to mainstream filmmaking with a story that, on its surface, could have been shamelessly mawkish. Instead, he presents the final eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the slain San Francisco politician and gay rights activist, with a mix of vivid details and nuanced heart.

He's also drawn from Sean Penn one of the most glorious performances ever in the actor's long and varied career. Van Sant and Penn could have deified this man, who did so much for so many and worked so tirelessly for so long, and paid the ultimate price. And yes, we see all that - the sacrifice and the struggle and the infinite wellspring of hope in the face of failure. But we also see Milk's all-consuming drive, often at the expense of his personal life. We see the way he could manipulate and cajole, even if it was for the greater good.

Penn depicts Milk as a man defined by a charming persistence. He had a way with words and a love of the spotlight and an infinite sense of inclusiveness. He was, in short, a jumble of contradictions, all of which Penn captures gracefully and effortlessly; there's nothing mannerly about his performance, just a deeply engaging immersion.

From a thoroughly researched script by Dustin Lance Black, the film begins in 1978 with Milk sitting at the kitchen table, speaking into a microphone, telling his life story: "This is only to be played in the event of my death by assassination," he says matter-of-factly, presciently.

"Milk" jumps back and forth through time, from meeting his first real love (a lovely James Franco) and moving with him from New York to San Francisco to opening his camera shop and helping the Castro neighborhood blossom into the gay mecca it would become. He becomes both den mother and Pied Piper to local kids and lost souls. And he repeatedly runs for the city Board of Supervisors, losing by a smaller margin each time, until he wins after a redistricting in 1977 and uses the seat to fight not just for gay rights but for all civil rights.

The film hits all the important marks but never feels like a typical biopic, a superficial, greatest-hits collection. This is where the fluidity Van Sant has exhibited in his recent offerings comes into play: "Milk" flows easily and comfortably; it makes us feel like we're witnessing the natural, propulsive drive of a life that mattered.

MOVIE REVIEW

Milk ***½

MOVIE BOARD RATING: R; language, some sexual content and brief violence

STARS: Sean Penn, Diego Luna, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch

DIRECTOR: Gus Van Sant

LOCATION: See movie times, Page 8, for local showtimes.

PLOT SUMMARY: A biography of Harvey Milk, California's first openly gay politician, who was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Mascone in 1978

RUNNING TIME: 128 minutes

ON THE WEB: www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/milk

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