Milk (2008)

Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) is a mostly closeted, gay insurance man that decides he is tired of seeing the entire gay population in America discriminated against without repercussion. So he comes out in the open with who he really is, moves in with his partner Scott Smith (James Franco) and decides that the only way things will change is to be elected to office as an openly gay man. Only then will their interests truly be represented and only then will they take the first steps to making discrimination against homosexuals unlawful.

The more I have thought about the film over the past few days since watching it, the better the film becomes in my mind. This is a story with which I hope anyone can draw inspiration. Everyone mentions Harvey Milk as a gay hero, but I think it is important to say that he is an American hero. It doesn't matter what class of citizen was being discriminated against, Milk saw discrimination and was the only one brave and clever enough to go about fighting to make a change. I felt the timing of this movie couldn't have been better because so many people watch this and think, "Wow - I can't believe things were so bad way back then. Glad I live in 2009 when that isn't an issue." It still is an issue though. This film focused on Milk's fight against Prop 6 in California, but last year, it was Prop 8 aimed to discriminate. The only sad part was there wasn't a Harvey Milk to successfully fight it this time.

As far as the movie itself, this one is all about Sean Penn. Every time I watch him disappear into a role I am reminded what a magnificent actor he is. Yes, I am sure he is a real jerk, but he is a jerk that can really act. Since I will never meet him, I would much rather watch the jerk that can act rather than the nice guy who is mediocre. Yet again, he delivers an amazing performance where you truly see him as Harvey Milk. I don't know of a current actor today that is that good at blending into his different characters so that he completely disappears before your eyes. I can certainly see why he won the Oscar this year.

One of the strongest parts of this film is how they don't make Milk a saint. The show him as being driven to the point of alienating his partner, they show him as having a "white knight" complex where his ego drives him to try to save everyone. I mean, they don't gloss over the flaws in his personality and it gives you a multi-dimensional character that is interesting to watch develop into a hero.

The only minor complaint about this one is that the Dan White's (Josh Brolin) character wasn't quite developed enough for me. You have to understand that I was barely out of diapers when all of this took place so I wasn't aware of this story at all until the movie came about. As such, I had no idea who Dan White was or why he was driven to take action. I think they hinted at several motives, but I am not certain it all came together for me. I understand not focusing on the bad guy while trying to do this inspirational movie, but I would have liked to understand White a little more. I don't think it was just him being a bigot, I think it was a lot more than that, but I am not 100% certain what the 'more' was.

Yet again, I have to say this film is a winner. It is highly recommended for three reasons. 1) Sean Penn's performance. It was just outstanding. 2) The reminder that when a nation allows a government to oppress any class of citizen, it gives them more power to oppress any and all classes of citizens. 3) As corny and silly as it always sounds, one person who is passionate and driven enough, can make a difference. Watch this one - Milk is good for you.

W. (2008)

This is your life, George W. Bush! This is a satirical retrospective of the life and political career of George W. Bush (Josh Brolin). It shows his path as a young man that generated all sorts of troubles for his family, then becoming "born again" and rising to Govenor of Texas and eventually landing the head job at the White House. All of the key players are here: Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell), Laura Bush (Elizabeth Banks) and Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton).

Movie Poster

I expected this movie to be a complete smear job on Bush. I mean, come on, it was written and directed by Oliver Stone and who isn't easier to make fun of than our former president? I have to say that Stone showed a tremendous amount of restraint here. I wasn't sure that I could stand an entire movie about grinding one man into the ground. No matter how much he might truly deserve it. I was surprised that Stone made his point, but didn't really pull any dirty punches. In fact, Stone did a tremendous job of actually humanizing Dubya. Bush is portrayed as an average Joe with good intentions of leading his country and making his father proud. Unfortunately, he simply wasn't competent for the job and he wasn't insightful enough to realize that small fact. Bush had Cheney in the background pulling the strings to make the puppet dance while the megalomaniac (Cheney) plots to take over the world's oil supply. Given his self-serving, corrupt administration, Bush was doomed to fail and he was too incompetent to even realize he was being used. It really is enough to make you kinda feel sorry for the guy. Kinda. That was quite the surprise coming from Stone.

I was also glad to see Colin Powell somewhat redeemed as the only sane voice that spoke up against a war without any proof of WMD, even if he later caved to do what the administration wanted him to do. That was an important point to add in and Stone did show that in the movie.

The performances, for the most part, were really amazing. Josh Brolin did a great job and had everything about Dubya down. He did a brilliant job. I was amazed by how they took Thandie Newton and literally turned her into Condi. Her looks and mannerisms were riotous. I think my biggest casting/performance disappointment was James Cromwell as Daddy Bush. He just didn't seem to fit at all. I don't know what they were thinking behind that choice.

Political satire, especially in a biography format of a figure so recent, is really hard to pull off. I didn't expect this to work as well as it did. I couldn't believe they actually made me feel sorry for Bush, but they did. Well, a little. They also took all this heavy material and turned a good part of it into entertaining satire that was actually interesting and funny. This movie was really well done given all the ways it could have gone wrong. I definitely enjoyed watching it, but I don't know if everyone would. The lefties will probably find it amusing and surprising how they feel about Bush as a person, afterwards. The righties will probably just get angry. Given that guide, follow your gut as far as if you should watch this one or not.