“Milk” is pretty fresh

Milk is an oddly unfocused film, but it finds its stride in the second half and ultimately delivers a compelling story that balances character drama and procedural politics. As the first openly gay man to be elected to office in California, Sean Penn turns in an atypically restrained performance that celebrates public success through strategic subtlety and patience. He represents a man whose late-blooming ambitions coincided with a key moment in history that allowed him to negotiate binding legal rights for the gay community.

The film stutters at first by introducing Milk as a 40 year-old, disaffected insurance salesman who picks up Steve Smith (James Franco) in the subway. The first twenty minutes are spent on a sort of vain love story between the two – lots of kissing, cuddling, romantic dinners. If director Gus van Sant’s intention was to depict what Milk would eventually fight for, he succeeds instead in creating only a stereotype of oversexed gayness. When the couple moves to San Francisco, the tedious romance recedes to a subplot, and Milk begins to engage himself in the community, the film starts to find its voice.

Milk opens a camera store on San Fran’s Castro Street which he uses as a magnate for the local gay community. This brings him in conflict with other local businesses and politicians, which in turn inspires him to run for various public offices. Despite suffering consecutive defeats, Milk attracts a following and a reputation as a leader. After a redistricting of the city, his constituency out numbers his opponent’s, and he wins a seat as a City Supervisor.

In this capacity he bucks up against Dan White (Josh Brolin), a staunch City Supervisor whose initial political truce with Milk erodes in the face of power hunger and jealousy. White’s frustrations build as Milk’s celebrity does, and he eventually snaps and murders both Milk and the city mayor. Despite the fact that the outcome is known from the opening frames of the film, the assassination is what makes the film so powerful, but also flawed.

When White pulls out the gun, Sean Penn’s reaction is Oscar caliber. Merely uttering the word, “No,” he conveys a desperate fear that evokes the deepest compassion from the viewer. At the same time, the assassination is meant to represent violent homophobia that resonates today. But it doesn’t. Instead, the frame for Brolin’s character is built around power, not prejudice. Dan White is portrayed as a man whose aspirations to power and success are crushed by a better politician. He seems to steam with rage not at what Milk represents, but at what he can accomplish. The result is a disconnect between Milk’s success as a gay rights advocate and his death.

The supporting cast is another weak point. While Brolin and Franco are both excellent, Emile Hirsch as a young campaign worker and Diego Luna as Milk’s last lover are both irritatingly awful. Too much screen time is devoted to their characters at the expense of more precision around Milk.

As an historical drama, the film is interesting. As an exposé of a model for building political capital, it is fascinating. And as a character piece, Sean Penn commands the screen. It isn’t the best picture of 2008, but it certainly deserves respect.

4/5