Poll Position: Who Wants Some "Milk"? (2008)

Last week I got the idea of putting a bunch of political films together that I'd never seen, and I handed it over to you. By a decent margin, the biographical film Milk won and so that's what I sat down and watched today. Sean Penn plays the role of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. Honestly, I don't know much of anything about Harvey Milk, other than that this movie existed. I had heard plenty of good things about it, so I was really hoping I'd like it. Find out if I did after the jump.


Being that this is a biographical film, obviously the story is just a retelling, with some dramatic additions I'm sure, of the life of Harvey Milk. Not his whole life mind you, just from around the point that he meets Scott Smith, to the sad and untimely events of his assassination.  Scott was possibly his best friend, and even his partner/lover for a time. As for his death, I don't believe saying that is a spoiler. For one thing, this is historical, and for another, we see a real news clip played almost at the very start of the movie telling us that he was shot. The film shows his motivations and reasons to start running for office, and his eventual rise into the political world, and everything he accomplished.

James Franco as Scott Smith & Sean Penn as Harvey Milk

Hands down the acting in this was great. All the actors seemed completely natural. Sean Penn was charismatic and totally charming. James Franco was also really good as Scott Smith. They made a good couple oddly enough, they just seemed like best friends who really cared for each other, and to me that's a good couple. While I didn't like his character, I also think Josh Brolin as Dan White did a good job. One last thing, the entire time I was watching the movie, I was going crazy trying to figure out where I recognized Alison Pill from. Well I'm going to tell you, now that I know! She was the drummer in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World! That's all I wanted to say about that.

I really didn't know anything about Harvey Milk and I never realized all the things he did and helped the gay and lesbian community to achieve. It was all a little before my time, and since I live in Canada and was never in the US for all the gay rights stuff, I was largely unaware of everything that happened. What he accomplished really is amazing, and it's because of what he did that we live in a world today where we can have movies like this be made.

Harvey at a rally after winning a big vote for gay rights

This film is primarily a historical retelling of the events surrounding this very important, groundbreaking man. I'm glad I saw this, as it has opened my eyes to everything he did, and his actions are those that deserve to be remembered. They say it only takes one person to inflict change, and Harvey Milk is a prime example of that. The world could certainly use a few more Harvey Milk's in it. Check this one out if you're a history buff or even if you just like political films. It's a slow burn, but I think it's worth it by the end.