Milk- This is the Real Thing-Far from Skimmed ***1/2

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2009)

An excellent Sean Penn's Oscar winning performance highlights this film.
Ironically, this is the 2nd film in recent times that Penn falls victim to an assassin's bullet. He did it a few years ago in the disappointing remake of the 1949 classic "All the King's Men."
In the original, Willie Stark learned to win by playing along with the system, in this film the reverse is true. You ultimately win by having the guts to stand up for your beliefs.
We get an excellent dose of history here detailing the homophobic ways of American in the 1970s and early 1980s. Too many states were curbing the rights of Gay Americans.
Penn totally captures the life of Harvey Milk by doing a wonderful job emulating his mannerisms. As far as social beliefs are concerned, Penn is way to the left politically so he probably had little difficulty digesting the script.
What's all the fuss about the performance of James Brolin as assassin Dan White, a resigned town supervisor?
"Milk" was an excellent film and should have been awarded the Oscar for best picture.