Milk
- Director: Gus Van Sant
- Writer: Dustin Lance Black
- Producer: Dustin Lance Black; Bruce Cohen
CGiii Comment
Congratulations Mr Van Sant. Fine work - at last.
That said, with an actor/director of Penn's calibre it is doubtful as to the input Van Sant had in his performance.
This is Penn's ship and, basically, he sails this ship admirably - alone.
The telephone sequence is simply bad (typical Van Sant nonsense).
The script manages to inject freshness into a story that those in-the-know know too well.
It's Penn's film...without him, it would have died.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death. He leaves the closet and New York, opens a camera shop that becomes the salon for San Francisco's growing gay community, and organizes gays' purchasing power to build political alliances. He runs for office with lover Scott Smith as his campaign manager. Victory finally comes on the same day Dan White wins in the city's conservative district. The rest of the film sketches Milk's relationship with White and the 1978 fight against a statewide initiative to bar gays and their supporters from public school jobs.
Cast & Characters
Sean Penn as Harvey Milk;
Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones;
Josh Brolin as Dan White;
Diego Luna as Jack Lira;
James Franco as Scott Smith;
Alison Pill as Anne Kronenberg;
Victor Garber as Mayor George Moscone;
Denis O'Hare as State Senator John Briggs;
Joseph Cross as Dick Pabich;
Stephen Spinella as Rick Stokes;
Lucas Grabeel as Danny Nicoletta;
Brandon Boyce as Jim Rivaldo;
Howard Rosenman as David Goodstein;
Kelvin Yu as Michael Wong;
Jeff Koons as Art Agnos