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Milk

Milk (2008)

tomatometer

94

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.

95

Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 38 | 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.

audience

88

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 164,926

My Rating

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

R, 2 hr. 8 min.

Drama, Gay & Lesbian

Dustin Lance Black

Mar 10, 2009

$31.7M

Focus Features

Cast

All Critics (225) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (213) | Rotten (14) | DVD (8)

At the moment, it's my favorite movie of the year.

May 6, 2011 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sean 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.

May 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

December 11, 2008 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

December 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | Comment
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

November 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | Comment
Christian Science Monitor
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This film wants us to understand both how far we've come as a society and that it is still not far enough.

November 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comments (16)
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A poignant lesson about the ripples of impact one impassioned individual can have, regardless of sexual orientation, and regardless of the cause.

September 28, 2011 Full Review Source: American Profile | Comment

A bracingly passionate look back at the man who helped define a specific era.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express | Comment
East Bay Express

This movie chooses not to dwell on tragedy. Instead it mines the inspiration Milk gave to hundreds, then thousands, then, posthumously, millions.

April 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Movies.com | Comment
Movies.com

A little more sour to go with the sweet would have made Milk one of the greats.

March 24, 2011 Full Review Source: What Culture | Comment

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.

September 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

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.

December 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Florida Times-Union | Comment
Florida Times-Union

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.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Times | Comment

Ultimatelt resembles less the man than the titular white liquid -- warm, nourishing, somewhat sleep-inducing

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comments (2)
CinePassion

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

August 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Magazine International | Comment
Movie Magazine International

With a commercially agreeable directorial style, Gus Van Sant continues his foray into provocative cinema with what is quite possibly his best film yet.

August 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Moviedex | Comment
Moviedex

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.

June 10, 2009 Full Review Source: BET.com | Comment
BET.com

An LGBT classic-in-the-making.

March 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Dearest | Comment
Movie Dearest

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.

March 12, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
NewsBlaze

An involving portrait of the courage of one man standing up against hatred and bigotry.

March 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment
Oscar Guy

The best film of 2008; engrossing no matter what one's sexual orientation.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Orange County and Long Beach Blade | Comment
Orange County and Long Beach Blade
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Milk

Penn and Brolin's performances are absolutely brilliant. Van Sant does an amazing job telling a story that needed to be told. RIP Harvey.

October 21, 2011
Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

I think the most important question to ask regarding this film, and all biopics is 'Did this film respect the life and memory of the person in question'. I would argue that it did. So with that in mind and thanks to the great direction and solid performances, Milk deserves its praise. I wasn't much of a Gus Van Sant

October 14, 2011
SirPant

Super Reviewer

    1. Harvey Milk: Forty years old and I haven't done a thing that I'm proud of.
    – Submitted by Alejandro O (5 months ago)
    1. Dan White: Society can't exist without the family.
    2. Harvey Milk: We're not against that.
    3. Dan White: Can two men reproduce?
    4. Harvey Milk: No, but God knows we keep trying.
    – Submitted by Sarah B (9 months ago)
    1. Cleve Jones: Elections of any kind are a fucking bourgeois affectation.
    – Submitted by Sarah B (9 months ago)
    1. Harvey Milk: All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. Harvey Milk: Without hope, life's not worth living.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Harvey Milk (FR)
  • Mi nombre es Harvey Milk (ES)
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