Stunning Story telling and a brilliant portrayal by Penn

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2008)

i loved this movie... i wasn't expecting Penn's performance to be so nuanced... i mean taking nothing away from Penn he's been great in everything he does right from I am Sam to Mystic river.. but somehow his method acting overtakes the realism of his characters... you know he is playing the character not necessarily being the character... To make a mainstream movie on a subject like gay activist is still a huge taboo... you have to lace it with all sorts of generalism and pass on the Gay part of the story as some appendage or you go the sensationalized way ... this movie is truly path breaking in that respect... it treats the subject with a maturity rarely seen ... the intimacy between Penn and Franco's characters is brilliant... Emile Hirsh as the nervous and at the same time effervescent young activist are all brilliant... the only two characters who cut a sorry figure are the otherwise brilliant josh brolin and Diego Luna...
The Story telling is brilliantly interspersed by the archival footage. I admit i had no clue about Harvey Milk ( i am not from USA so pardon me for that) but the Story telling , the recreation of the 70s the pacing everything is top notch . Harvey Milk deserves to be known by everyone... not because he was Gay... but because his struggle could easily inspire any minority group which doesn't fit in...
Gus Van Sant Take a Bow.. this is true cinematic Triumph!