Movie Review - MILK

Watch.

You know what, this movie is good enough that I have to elaborate. For those of who you don't know the story, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the US - a supervisor in District 5 in San Fransisco. The movie follows 8 years of his life, from when he moves from NYC to SF, until the vote on Prop 6 - basically, anyone who was gay or who even supported equal rights for gays, was liable to be fired from the CA school system.

But what the movie really is about is how a marginalized minority gathered around one person and fought a political battle to gain acceptance from society. Its like a docu-drama that is part history lesson (some real clips from back then), part political statement, with the thread of Milk's own personal story running through the movie.

Powerful performance by Sean Penn, but watch out for brilliant acting by Josh Brolin as supervisor Dan White and James Franco as Milk's first boyfriend. The movie is incredibly well done(the way it is shot, you think you're watching a movie made in the period), with no unnecessary vilifying or deifying of any of the characters. Very very real, and a great window into the gay movement back in the day.

If nothing else, just to educate yourself, you SHOULD see this one.

Update: MissLaura has a much better review of the movie.