The strength of Black’s script is that it grasps both the radicalism of Milk’s political ambition and the pragmatism of his methods. Milk understands that modern politics thrive at the messy, sometimes glorious intersection of grubby interests and noble ideals.
For more than two lively, eventful hours, Milk conforms to many of the conventions of biographical filmmaking, if not always to the precise details of the hero’s biography. Milk’s inexhaustible political commitment takes its toll on his relationships, first with Scott and then with Jack Lira, an impulsive, unstable young man played by Diego Luna with an operatic verve that stops just short of camp.
Meanwhile, local San Francisco issues are overshadowed by a statewide anti-gay-rights referendum and the national crusade, led by the orange-juice spokesmodel Anita Bryant, to repeal municipal antidiscrimination laws. The culture war is unfolding, and Milk is in the middle of it. And so, 30 years later, in the wake of Proposition 8, is Milk.VIEW THIS PAGE
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