Milk is a biography drama film that tells the story of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist who became the United States' first openly gay elected official, up until his assassination by Dan fellow city supervisor Dan White on November 27, 1978. The film was directed by Gus Van Sant, and he does a really, really solid job. From the very opening of the film, it's clear what this film's intent is- to get you invested in Harvey's life, what happened to him, and the plight of the gay community in San Francisco at in the 1970's. This is all achieved, in quite a brilliant way. Harvey's political career was cut extremely short, as he didn't begin running for office until his forties and he was only city supervisor for eleven months, but his impact was felt. He was the leader of the movement that was taking place in San Francisco at the time. It is clear that Van Sant really does try to keep the film historically accurate, and it does not appear that there are any fabrications to the story, although it is clear to anyone with knowledge on Harvey and his life that some things have been cut out. The film opens with Harvey meeting Scott Smith, his longtime boyfriend, the night of his fortieth birthday, so anything that happened in his life before that point is not explored, although this really works to the films merit. The way this narrative is woven throughout the film is what makes it such a strong piece. In the beginning, it is explicitly said what is going to take place by the end of the film, so that the meat of the viewer's focus is brought to the events as they take place, and how we get to the eventual outcome. The performances here are fantastic, with Sean Penn's sincere and bubbly performance as Harvey Milk being one of the best of his career. His chemistry with James Franco as Scott Smith is also just fantastic. The people around Harvey, his political team and his friends, are incredibly likeable, interesting, and well acted. The story and time setting of this film is what really sells it. It is extremely engaging, very well thought out, and establishes an absolutely great symphony of different moods throughout its duration. The costume design and the way in which this movie is shot really establishes the time period of this film extraordinarily well. There's shots during scenes in which Harvey's giving speeches from a crowd, that are either shot from a crane overhead or from right in the crowd, which are incredibly engaging, and establish mood very well. There are a lot of very memorable scenes in this film that really compel the viewer to sympathize with the movement, and Harvey's dedication to being able to not just be gay, but openly gay in America. Harvey's occasional narration through tape recorder is a great technique to keep the story moving, and it adds great depth to his character. While the dialogue is pretty well written, every now and again it feels a little manufactured, with dialogue setting up the next event, but it's still very serviceable and not too distracting. It's not only a landmark in biography and LGBT film, but an important historical film as well. I absolutely love this film. 9.0/10

This is a biopic about Harvey Milk, a person I only remember through a news item---when he was killed along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber). Their assassin, Dan White (Josh Brolin), will probably be best remembered for the 1979 trial in which his attorney tried to use something that would later be known as the "Twinkie defense." As the movie begins, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), is on the verge of his 40th birthday and feels that he has done nothing with his life. He meets his partner and soon-to-be campaign manager, Scott Smith (James Franco), in a NYC subway station. They move to San Francisco and open a camera shop in the predominately gay district called the Castro. Harvey becomes a gay-rights activist and attempts to run for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. After three attempts, and much work to politically organize his district, he is elected as the first openly gay candidate ever to be elected in America (in 1977). During his political career, he encourages a large number of people to come out of the closet and declare their gayness openly. After seeing this movie, I put the 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, at the top of my Netflix queue since I wanted to see more about Milk and see how well Penn portrays him in this movie. The only thing that I don't look forward to is Harvey Fierstein's narration: I don't like his grading voice. In any case, Sean Penn gives a natural, and convincing performance.

In 60's San Francisco, the police are cracking down on gay men. In 1970 NYC, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) hooks up with Scott Smith (James Franco) but he's still on the down-lo. In 1972, they decide to go to San Francisco to start anew. They find an economically-depressed Haight. Harvey opens a camera shop and becomes an organizer on Castro Street. He gathers gay support and businesses supporting gays. He meets young Phoenix teen Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch) who dismisses Harvey at first. He runs for office but fails. Anita Bryant is on a country-wide crusade against homosexuals. In 1977, there is redistricting and Harvey runs for one of the supervisors with Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill) as his campaign manager. He starts going out with Jack Lira (Diego Luna). He finally wins as one of the first openly gay politician. In 1978, he is put in office along with opponent Dan White (Josh Brolin) from the conservative Irish Catholic district and supportive Mayor Moscone (Victor Garber). It's a tumultuous year that ends in tragedy.Director Gus Van Sant keeps this biopic along the straight and narrow following a standard biopic formula. Certainly, Harvey Milk's life has a lot of sign posts to observe. Through it all, Sean Penn gives the character a caring humanity. The large cast is populated by great actors. I would have liked more from some of these supporting characters but the story has to keep moving. Overall, this is a solid biopic.

I had to accept Hollywood wasn't going to show the actual history of life in San Francisco in November 1978. The film is great but not accurate as it fails to mention details to better understand Harvey Milk's legacy. He became a gay icon and legend for the gay rights movement. The film is told largely from Milk's perspective with him at a recorder. He knows that he's a target and doesn't see the danger close by. Sean Penn deserved his Academy Award for playing Harvey Milk with a complexity of a multi-dimensional character. The supporting cast is stellar including James Franco as one of his lovers. Alison Pill is terrific as Anne Kronenberg. Victor Garber was fine as Mayor Moscone. Josh Brolin was brilliant as the troubled, unstable Dan White. The film doesn't project all facets of Milk's career. He was largely the most visible gay politician in the seventies and they're have been others like Barney Frank, Christine Quinn, and more to come out and service the public. Gay marriage has finally been legalized in this country.