Jamie passion and passionfruit!

Gus Van Sant plays it relatively straight in this biopic of slain gay councillor, Harvey Milk.  No great frills or inspiration, just a solid recounting of his eight year rise to fame in San Francisco and his murder at the hands of a jealous/crazy colleague.  Somehow this film for all its correct retelling of the events fails to ignite any great sparks and often comes across as a well-made telefilm.  Van Sant is capable of much more.  Sean ‘Meryl Streep’ Penn creates another highly credible if dullish character, Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch show their chameleon stripes in good supporting roles while James Franco does little and Diego Luna is miscast as Jack his final lover.

* * * * (just)