Milk (2008)

The story of gay activist Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) from 1970 to his assassination by Dan White (Josh Brolin) in 1978. Inspired the 1984 documentary, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HARVEY MILK as well as the book THE MAYOR OF CASTRO STREET by Randy Shilts and directed by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING). As usual with biopics, it faces the difficulty of cramming some eight years into a two hour time slot which it does admirably but more importantly, Van Sant gets to the heart of the man and creates an authentic atmosphere of San Francisco in that era (yes, I was there!). What is painful is that 20 years after this film, the same battle continues to be fought as the current administration continues to attack and rollback LGBT rights that Milk fought and died for. In that respect, sadly, the film is still all too timely. Sean Penn is excellent as Milk but the supporting cast is also (mostly) flawless. With James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Victor Garber, Diego Luna, Alison Pill and Denis O'Hare.