Sunday, October 25, 2009

Milk

We finally saw "Milk" last night. Well-made, as expected, but I found it overall a little flat. Sean Penn's astonishing performance, however, is everything it is cracked up to be. The movie also ought to be an exhibit in Harvey Milk's canonization, if and when the Church ever comes around to making saints of gays and unconverted Jews.

The most interesting theme is the notion that Dan White was a tortured, closeted gay who was simultaneously drawn to and repelled by Milk. In the movie, White is ultimately the biggest victim of homophobia, while Milk, supremely comfortable in his own skin and a fighter from the very beginning, is anything but.