Review of Milk? (2012) by Gary K — 14 May 2011
"Milk" is an important film because it chronicles a period of American history that was overshadowed by the Reagan era. For members of Generation X, it's an opportunity to see how much society has changed within our lifetime.
Penn bears an eerie resemblance to Harvey Milk and delivers another notable performance. (If you can separate Penn's politics from his performance, he is the best of his generation.) Gus Van Sant makes use of actual news footage to tell the story leading up to Milk's assassination in 1978.
The effect is cemented in the closing sequence, during which Van Sant shows us the real people who were at the epicenter of a seismic shift in American culture. Van Sant avoids a political message and instead makes a more important point: people deserve the right to be treated with dignity and fairness, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.
This review of Milk? (2012) was written by Gary K on 14 May 2011.
Milk? has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
