Milk Vs. The Wrestler

 

 

 

VS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean Penn won the Oscar this year for his very good performance in Gus Van Sant’s MILK.  The problem is that Mickey Rourke’s character and performance in Darren Aronofsky’s the Wrestler was a much better performance. 

The Reasons for Sean Penn’s win is all about politics rather than achievement.  And though MILK was a good film, it wasn’t as interesting, personal, nor was it particular artistic or moving as The Wrestler.  Now, I admit I most likely feel this way due to my heterosexuality, and so although I sympathize and even support the gay movement in America, I felt disconnected to this film.  Because any political movement in the United States has so many people involved, that any film attempting to capture it always has too  many characters to truly be invested in almost any of them, and MILK is no exception.  All of the supporting characters (with the exception of Emile Hirsch, who although I am not a fan of this actor, did a very interesting turn as Cleve Jones) are on screen so little they have no chance to develop.

The Wrestler however as so few characters that all of them get developed and inspected and are three dimensional and heartbreaking.  Where MILK I feel is for a much more limited audience, yet is shot like a major Hollywood flick.  The Wrestler, with a much more intimate feel is definitely more accessible to the common audience. 

And on a note about biopics vs. fictional films.  The Academy Loves biopic performances, but I feel like they are lesser forms of acting.  To re-enact or imitate, or even inhabit some one who already exists is not as difficult or even as good as creating some one completely new.  Sean Penn, though doing an amazing job, is still just idiosyncratically mimicking Harvey Milk, where Mickey Rourke creates something special.  Rourke’s Character Randy “The Ram” on paper should be the worst person on the planet.  But Rourke’s performance makes him a touching, tragic, and even sympathetic character instead of a horrible father with a steroid problem and who chases and even stalks a stripper at a local club. 

I think you should watch Milk not for Sean Penn or because it is a great movie, because it wasn’t that great, and neither was Sean Penn.  But I do think you should watch the film if you are interested in the Gay Rights Movement, or if you interested in American History.  It is a necessary film for our political environment today, especially because of California’s recent Proposition 8 scandal.  However, I feel Mickey Rourke, and the Wrestler are much better than Sean Penn and MILK.