Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk's life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change.With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk's actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). But as White and Milk's political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge. Milk's platform was and is one of hope – a hero's legacy that resonates in the here and now.
This movie was full of excellent acting performances. This is that type of movie where you could see 3 or 4 actors getting nominated for best supporting actor along with the obvious nomination that Sean Penn should get. He was excellent as Harvey Milk. The movie started off a little bit too gay. Sean Penn and James Franco pretty much just start going at it. Right off the bat I was wondering what the heck I had signed on for. However, it settled down and really got you interested in the evolution of Milk's rise in politics. New people were introduced very fluidly and the movie was very well done as a whole.
I strongly recommend that everyone check this one out. Just push through the first ten minutes or so and you will truly enjoy this powerful character drama.
