Milk

Sean Penn (in an Oscar winning role for Best Actor) plays Harvey Milk, an openly gay activist and politician in 1970's San Francisco. The story of Harvey Milk's life is well documented, so there are no surprises here. Take a look...





Like I said, unless you have lived under a rock and have never heard of Harvey Milk or George Moscone you know this story. Director Gus Van Sant stays true to form, for the most part, so I basically just sat back and watched some history unfold. There were no real surprises, no twists or turns so I felt as if someone was reading a book to me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't my cup of tea either.

The movie is packed full of strong performances. Sean Penn was absolutely fabulous and deserving of his award. Say what you will about the man, but he has certainly mastered his craft. Well done.

Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, and Alison Pill each added fine performances with great depth. To leave an individual out is really doing a disservice to everyone. Each was as strong as the next.

I imagine I am going to stoke some reactions when I say this is a 3 star movie for me. I just got bored, I guess knowing the story doesn't help in a movie such as this. I saw everything coming from a mile away. However, it's a 3 star movie with 5 star performances so I recommend seeing it at your earliest opportunity.

If you would be so kind as to indulge me for a moment. When you watch this movie you are going to hear a lot about Proposition 6. I recommend reading about it here. For those of you that pay attention to our fine country, you will remember something during the last elections in California called Proposition 8. Please read about it here. Anyway...

Just what in the hell is everyone so scared of? Do the conservatives really think that gay men and women, if married, will tear down the moral backbone of our society? How moral are we, really? And why are civil rights up for a vote? I thought we were all equal in today's society. Far from it people, far from it. This needs to be addressed. Persecution is wrong, period.

This country has proven to be amazing in so many ways. We just elected an African-American President for crying out loud. We can overcome this, but we have to care enough to do it.

If nothing else, this movie will teach you just how persecuted gay men and women have been. That alone makes it a must see. Let it move you to thought.

W.

W. is a biography directed and produced by Oliver Stone. He has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. When he hits the mark, his movies are awesomely entertaining. Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Nixon, The People vs. Larry Flynt were all big winners in my book. This one, unfortunately, missed the mark by a mile.





I think that Oliver Stone went at this movie all wrong. First, I think the timing did him a disservice. In a moment when we had all seen enough of President Bush, we certainly didn't need a movie reminding us of the last 8 years when we were still living it.

Secondly, I think he tried to be a bit even handed to appeal to everyone in the political spectrum. It was a novel approach but it didn't seem to ring true. He did his share of bashing, making him appear to be a puppet, a drunk, and an illegitimate member of our society. But what that did was almost make you feel sorry for the man. And with that, it made me a bit embarrassed for our country.

He also tried to do too much. He tried to rehash everything from his college days at Yale all the way through current. It was too much to jam into a two hour film. Cramming all of that time into two hours made it feel sloppy and convoluted. He would have been better suited to pick a 10-15 year period and delve into it. Make us understand the rationale behind the decisions, the motivating factors, and help us understand the relationship with his cabinet.

Finally, I think Stone spent way too much time and energy on making the characters physically identical to the people they were portraying. Josh Brolin did a fabulous job playing the title role. I really felt like I was actually watching George bumble through the past eight years. Cheney, Rice, Rove, Franks, they all looked spot on. I do believe that Elizabeth Banks was mis-cast. Why pick a young, A-list girl and age her by 30 years and make her as boring as Laura?

The movie just needed more. It was all sizzle and no steak, if you know what I mean. And probably the most interesting dynamic that could have been portrayed, Colin Powell and W., was largely ignored. They made Powell look like an immature bumbling fool and I thought that was just completely wrong.

No matter which side of the fence you sit politically, I don't imagine too many people thinking that this was a well done film. It was a big dissapointment for me. I would rather watch a Saturday Night Live skit bashing him. At least it would have been amusing.

2 stars and a yawn.