"Without hope, life's not worth living."

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2009)

Milk, the story of gay rights activist Harvey Milk is a great movie that is pretty relevant of what is going on in our world today. Sean Penn delivers what might be the best performance of his career as Harvey Milk. He doesn't portray him as a saint, a trap that some Hollywood bio pics fall into, rather he is portrayed as ordinary man who just so happened to make a difference. Gus Van Sant's great direction and Dustin Lance Black's script also help. Another highlight performance is from Josh Brolin, who plays Dan White a fellow city official and eventual assassin of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscane. Brolin's performance is astonishing in that he actually makes you feel a bit of sympathy for White. One other thing that makes this film unique from most bio pics is its use of archive footage that shows the events affecting the world as they happen throughout the narrative. Overall this is an inspiring film of a man who made a difference that can be enjoyed even by people who don't really care too much about politics.