When the plot of a movie is based on acceptance of homosexuals and standing tall for such kind of a cause, it takes hell out of you as a Director, Actor or even for that matter the support team. To make things more complicated for the makers of this movie, the story is based on true incidents that took place in 1977 in San Francisco. After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White.
The movie is shot so beautifully that you can easily recreate the late 70s era throughout the movie. There are few intimate scenes where Sean Penn is seen with his 1st and in some with his second male-love. But the director has to be given credit for successfully able to pull of those scenes brilliantly. The screenplay is really good and the depiction of characters has been done really well. There is a poetic flow to the entire movie. There are very few flaws that one can catch. I believed that the movie could have been slightly more imaginative as that could have made an emotional attachment with the audience. The ensemble cast has done a decent job, but this actually is Sean Penn's movie. And he rightly deserved the Academy Awards for the best actor 2008.
One final comment where I would like thank the make-up artists and Sean Penn to get into the skin of the exact character of Harvey Milk whose life he was portraying. There are snapshots shown in the end where all the real characters are shown and you will astonished to see the striking similarity not just in the looks but the attitude and body language of Mr. Sean Penn. Hats off to you Sir.
Verdict: 3.5 / 5
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