Great work, Sean...

Rating: 8/10 (22 February 2009)

Harvey Milk says in the beginning that he is 40 and hasn't done anything to be proud..little did he know that in the last 8 years of his life would surpass all that. He would emerge as an icon for his kind and a new voice against bigotry. Sean Penn breathes life into this role. This is a complete departure from his image. The result is a great great film.
The film begins with the announcement of Milk and Moscone being assassinated. It also begins with a narrative, actually a will he recorded just 9 days before he was killed.It starts with Harvey meeting a much younger lover, Scott Smith in 1970 and then moving to Castro neighborhood in SF. Enraged by the bias against gays, he decides to fight against it by running for supervisor. He fails for six years before finally emerging victorious in Jan 1978, becoming the first openly gay public official US. He continues his agitation, rallying against Proposition 6 before he is gunned down by fellow supervisor Dan White (Brolin)in Nov 1978.
Gus Van Sant does a brilliant job, running the narrative and the story parallelly. He shows how biopics should be. Sean Penn brings out the long slain supervisor back on the silver screen and shows how he lived a lifetime during the last 8 years of his life. Its a fitting tribute to a man who strived to change the society's perspective, fought for the rights of gays for them being accepted and ultimately paid with his life for that. James Franco and Emile Hirsch are effective. But its Josh Brolin in the supporting cast, who takes the cake. Though he has very less screen time, he makes it up with his great portrayal of Dan White. This is one guy who is gonna be great.
Its very seldom that the best actor award is a two guy race. This time it is, between Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn. May the best man win!!!