Reviewed by Deborah Day
(November 2008)

Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Written by: Dustin Lance Black
Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O'Hare

History lesson aside, director Gus Van Sant's Milk, about the United States' first openly gay male elected official, is a first-rate drama with superb, nuanced performances from Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, Josh Brolin as Milk assassin Dan White, and James Franco as Milk's lover Scott Smith - as well as, yes, an educational account of the life of a pivotal character in the rise of America's gay rights movement in the 1970s.

Van Sant incorporates archived news footage to help tell the story of Milk, who was elected to the District 5 seat of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Starting with his life as a closeted businessman in New York City, the film shows the future politician as he meets his important lover and champion, Smith, and the two move to San Francisco where they begin organizing the gay community into a politically powerful demographic.

Milk couldn't have come at a better time. Parallels between San Francisco activism in the late '70s to the current Proposition 8 debate are impossible to ignore. In the film, Milk battles the prejudice fed by activist Anita Bryant, who canvases the country lobbying to repeal ordinances that protect rights to housing, education and employment regardless of sexual orientation. Based on her success, California State Senator John Briggs (Denis O'Hare) sponsors Proposition 6 (known as the Briggs Initiative), which would ban homosexuals from teaching positions in the state's public schools and remove gays and their supporters from their posts.

"We have to leave the ghetto," Milk says as he proposes outing gays as part of the movement. "If you want real political power, try telling the truth for a change."

Penn invites us in as he explores Milk's transformation from a cautious part of the machine to a passionate liberator in a performance that will remind many of his total immersion in his Oscar-nominated i am sam character. Franco shows his depth with an appealingly sensitive turn as Smith, Emile Hirsch attacks his role as young activist Cleve Jones with fervor, while Brolin delicately cracks the brittle façade of former firefighter White - who is responsible for the phrase "Twinkie defense" joining the American lexicon. These stellar supporting performances - as well as those of O'Hare, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Victor Garber and others - make clear that the sum of these parts can only be credited to having a visionary artist at the helm. Van Sant should be honored as one of the best director nominees come January. -MPM

Photos courtesy of Focus Features.