Milk

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Gus Van Sant in Milk, filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. 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.

I'm rating this film with a 5 star and it isn't just because the entire cast - from the extraordinary Sean Penn to the refreshingly wonderful Emile Hirsh to the surprisingly good James Franco and Diego Luna to the realistic Josh Brolin - did a marvelous job. Neither just because Gus Van Sant is one of my most favorite directors or because I'm a hand-to-heart fanatic gay rights supporter. This movie receives my 5 stars for all these reasons, but mainly because of its content, its humanity, its pulse. A film that makes you want to explode, to shout and cry. A film that shows you how one man with enough drive and will may not be able to change the world but he can change many other things. Maybe seemingly the lives of gay people have improved since the 1970's. Maybe someone responsible for a double homicide would receive something more than 5 years today. All I know is that maybe today we're all so comfortable in the puffy chair of inertia that if there was a Harvey Milk in 2009, nobody would really pay attention to him.