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It’s Academy Awards time and I’m inviting you to come with me and share some
of your own inner Siskel and Ebert.
I've seen most of the contenders: Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire (swoon), The
Wrestler, The Reader, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon and most recently, Milk. I’m hoping to see Revolutionary Road
before the awards show but the rest may just have to wait for my Netflix queue.
At the moment, I am deliriously high on the on-screen Harvey
Milk -- Sean Penn. What a performance! I had just deemed Frank
Langella my best actor pick until this past Sunday when I found myself
mesmerized by Penn for the entire two plus hour film.
Milk is a fine movie in and of itself. A wonderful tapestry of political
statement woven through a sweet love story. And, if the real Scotty was
anything close to the role Milk's lover played in the movie, I want one for
myself!! (I'd like mine straight up, please.)
Harvey Milk was a force whose wits were enhanced by a little chutzpah, or
maybe a lot of chutzpah, propelling him to get things done (an understatement).
Armed with his compassionate heart he was/is a gay man's champion and an icon
to his community. In his political struggle, he sacrificed his most cherished
relationship for his bigger picture mission to dignify the gay community and
lead them in reclaiming its civil rights.
The story is hopeful. It's heroic and touching. But the hero of the two
hours in the darkened theatre is Sean Penn. I can’t remember a film where he
was this good. I've always admired him as an actor but I was never over the
moon for him until now.
Like classic Meryl Streep in her chameleon-like roles, Penn
disappeared in his portrayal of Milk. His masterful effeminite New
Yorker was expected but the depth he brought to the character transcended to
the standard of "great acting". His performance reached a magical
level much like Slumdog Millionaire's surpassing of a "great movie."
How lucky we were this year.
Penn was Harvey Milk. Dare I say it? Is channeling too eerie a word to
use or is that actually another synonym for good acting?
I don't know.
Frank Langella. I still adore your Nixon. It amazed me at how this handsome
actor morphed into a despicable Nixon. Even though his body language was
superb, his posture precise, Langella really did make Nixon a lot prettier than
he was in real life. If you haven't seen this movie, which can feel a little
slow, it's a must before the Oscars come on this Sunday night. If you see
nothing else, see Frost/Nixon and Milk just to see the tremendous competition
for best actor. Oh, of course you've already seen Slumdog, right? That movie is
so far off the charts that none of the others compare, even the best ones.
It's thrilling, Academy Award time. At least it is for me. Tell me
who you like in my comment area. I would love that.
Cheers. (See me at Kim Weiss Talks Books & Beyond: http://www.helpmewithmybook.com/blog
