Review of Milk? (2012) by Zetto M — 05 Jul 2011

3. An inspiring movie about a man who sees a world with wrong, and does all he can to make it right. Milk is a sweet, gentle, and original piece from director Gus Van Sant, about the glorious story of the first openly gay elected San Francisco official, Harvey Milk.

The screenplay by Dustin Lance Black is incredible, following the last 8 years of Harvey Milk's life, studying Milk as a kind and lovable, but lost gay man, seeking to better his life. As Milk, Sean Penn delivers a masterful performance as the out-going, funny, and charming gay city official.

Visually inventive, magnificent in production design, greatly scored by Danny Elfman, and jaw-droppingly good performances by the cast are all attributes that make Milk an astounding feature film that would make anyone feel better about themselves.

Josh Brolin as city Supervisor Dan White shines in one of the greatest roles of his career as the failing politician who wants to do good for his family, but is overshadowed by the excelling politician, Milk.

James Franco is also imperative and remarkable as Milk's long time boyfriend, Scott Smith. And the rest of the cast which includes Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, and Alison Pill give significantly notable performances as well.

To me, Milk is the most inspirational movie of all time do to it's loyalty to cinema, distinctive creativity, connectivity to reality and human personalities, and ability to evoke honest and genuine emotion from my heart each viewing I have.