Review of Milk (2008) by Steves. — 28 Nov 2008
Sorry, I know that I'm out on my own here, but I found the screenplay truly terrible. The acting was of course top-notch, and I'd give Sean Penn (perhaps the greatest actor of our generation) an Oscar nomination in a sec.
However, the script was full of cliches and facile emotional manipulation. I mean, come on! That flashback at the end: "I'm not gonna live to 50." If he really said that, fine, show it at the beginning.
But the flashback? And that hackneyed scene: "Nobody cared enough to show up?" Oh, gee, turn around and there they all are. All in all, it was more of a history lesson than a drama. It didn't tell me much of anything that I hadn't learned .
. . much more compellingly . . . from "The TImes of Harvey Milk." "Milk" was so top-heavy with historic exposition that there was hardly a minute for insight into the internal lives of the characters.
E.g., I certainly didn't see any motivation at all for his ongoing relationship with Jack. And although, as a gay man, Harvey Milk is one of my heroes, I don't think that the kind of hagiography that ignores his well-known darker side does any justice to the man himself.
(I know some of the critics thought it was there. Well, I didn't think so.) All in all, I'd say, rent "The Times of Harvey Milk.
This review of Milk (2008) was written by Steves. on 28 Nov 2008.
Milk has generally received very positive reviews.
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