Milk (2008)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 225
Fresh: 211 | Rotten: 14
Anchored by Sean Penn's powerhouse performance, Milk is a triumphant account of America's first openly gay man elected to public office.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 45
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 2
Anchored by Sean Penn's powerhouse performance, Milk is a triumphant account of America's first openly gay man elected to public office.
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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 164,926
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Movie Info
Academy Award winner Sean Penn takes the title role in Gus Van Sant's biopic tracing the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the ill-fated politician and gay activist whose life changed history, and whose courage still inspires people. When Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, he made history for being the first openly gay man in American history to be voted into public office. But the rights of homosexuals weren't Milk's primary concern, as tellingly
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Cast
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Sean Penn
Harvey Milk -
Emile Hirsch
Cleve Jones -
Josh Brolin
Dan White -
Diego Luna
Jack Lira -
James Franco
Scott Smith -
Alison Pill
Anne Kronenberg -
Victor Garber
Mayor Moscone -
Denis O'Hare
John Briggs -
Joseph Cross
Dick Pabich -
Stephen Spinella
Rick Stokes -
Lucas Grabeel
Danny Nicoletta -
Brandon Boyce
Jim Rivaldo -
Zvi Howard Rosenman
David Goodstein -
Kelvin Yu
Michael Wong -
Jeff Koons
Art Agnos -
Ted Jan Roberts (II)
Dennis Peron -
Robert Boyd Holbrook
Denton Smith -
Frank M. Robinson
Himself -
Allan Baird
Himself -
Tom Ammiano
Himself -
Carol Ruth Silver
Thelma -
Hope Goblirsch
Mary Ann White -
Steven Wiig
McConnelly -
Ashlee Temple
Dianne Feinstein -
Wendy King
Carol Ruth Silver -
Kelvin Han Yee
Gordon Lau -
Robert Chimento
Phil Burton -
Ginabel Machado
Lily
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Milk Trailer & Photos
All Critics (225) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (213) | Rotten (14) | DVD (8)
At the moment, it's my favorite movie of the year.
Top CriticSean Penn gives a meticulously detailed performance as the cagey and charismatic pol, but credit should also go to Dustin Lance Black, whose script squarely locates Milk at the center of his community, his city, and his cause.
The story is sad, but the mood is jubilant and the energy relentless.
Perhaps it is simply an accident of timing that puts Milk in theaters at this moment. But fate or simple fortunate timing, Milk arrives as one of the best films of 2008.
Penn's performance is a marvelous act of empathy in a movie that, for all its surprisingly conventional style, measures up to its stirring subject.
Milk is an agitprop fantasy about the selflessness of sainthood. If anybody but Penn was playing the saint, we'd probably feel as if we were being sold a bill of goods. Instead, he just about pulls it off. Such is the treachery of talent.
A poignant lesson about the ripples of impact one impassioned individual can have, regardless of sexual orientation, and regardless of the cause.
A bracingly passionate look back at the man who helped define a specific era.
This movie chooses not to dwell on tragedy. Instead it mines the inspiration Milk gave to hundreds, then thousands, then, posthumously, millions.
A little more sour to go with the sweet would have made Milk one of the greats.
Rather than force fictional acceptance at which the world unfortunately hasn't arrived, Gus van Sant effectively, astutely chronicles the slow, painful birth of minority representation and the tragic price Harvey Milk paid for political visibility.
A lively biopic of slain gay politician Harvey Milk, one that mostly avoids the "this happened, then that happened" routineness of many of its ilk.
Milk tackles serious issues about equal treatment under the law and the power of a minority community to determine its standing in the larger world through political activism.
Ultimatelt resembles less the man than the titular white liquid -- warm, nourishing, somewhat sleep-inducing
The film is not only the story of Harvey Milk but the galvanization of the gay community in San Francisco and while Milk would have been quick to point out that there are very few lesbians in this film - something that Van Sant seems to miss - he would ha
With a commercially agreeable directorial style, Gus Van Sant continues his foray into provocative cinema with what is quite possibly his best film yet.
A solid film with clear intentions -- to thoughtfully entertain. If you walk out of Milk and not be moved then you are missing a little soul.
An LGBT classic-in-the-making.
That rare bio-pic of sufficient depth and emotional complexity to humanize an icon while simultaneously conveying the significance of his lasting contributions to the culture.
An involving portrait of the courage of one man standing up against hatred and bigotry.
The best film of 2008; engrossing no matter what one's sexual orientation.
Audience Reviews for Milk
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Harvey Milk: My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you.
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- Harvey Milk: Forty years old and I haven't done a thing that I'm proud of.
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- Dan White: Society can't exist without the family.
- Harvey Milk: We're not against that.
- Dan White: Can two men reproduce?
- Harvey Milk: No, but God knows we keep trying.
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- Cleve Jones: Elections of any kind are a fucking bourgeois affectation.
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- Harvey Milk: All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.
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- Harvey Milk: Without hope, life's not worth living.
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Latest News on Milk
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Foreign Titles
- Harvey Milk (FR)
- Mi nombre es Harvey Milk (ES)
