Milk (2008)

Review written 6/6/26

Milk

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER. BE LOUD AND BE PROUD. If you can’t tell, this film has gotten me just a little pumped up. This has been on my watchlist for quite awhile, especially since recently I’ve been working on educating myself on the history of the gay rights movement. Harvey Milk is one of the most influential people in the gay rights movement, and this film does a fantastic job of reenacting the important aspects of his life and career. It won Best Original Screenplay for a reason. It’s such a deep, realistic view of the fight for gay rights in California, using pieces of documentary footage to help tell the story. It’s emotional and raw, in both a positive and negative sense. In the positive sense, it made me very confident in who I am, what I support, and why. In the negative sense, it does take a small mental toll on you because of the tragic events and bigotry. But it’s a good style of showing an uplifting message and person, while still showing the (sometimes) devastating behind-the-scenes. It’s a well crafted screenplay. And from what I can tell, it’s historically accurate. Above all, the obvious highlight of the film is Sean Penn’s Oscar winning performance. He was very deserving of that award. Even though I’m not a Harvey Milk historian, or know his mannerisms or dialect, I can say for sure that Penn did him justice. The entire time I was sitting there, I never felt like I was watching a Sean Penn performance, I felt like I was watching a documentary. Penn was so moving and completely fell into the role. His energy absolutely blasts out of the screen, and every second he was on screen, you could almost physically feel his mindset and personality. The rest of the cast was also amazingly good, and I don’t think there was a single miscast. But Penn, man. Generational stuff that got me so fired up, in the best way possible. Anyways, this film is really great, and I’m ready to radically change this country. As I said at the beginning, THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER. I would recommend this to everyone, because it will affect you deeply. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!