Milk Reviews and Ratings


  • askari31
    November 24, 2009
    askari31
    good and inspiring tribute to a brave committed man
  • martymor72
    November 23, 2009
    martymor72
    Thought this film was superb
  • 0001hrs
    November 22, 2009
    0001hrs
    Extremely interesting subject matter with plenty of excellent acting.
  • niek123
    November 22, 2009
    niek123
    Interesting and moving biopic of gay rights activist Milk.
  • xweirdox
    November 21, 2009
    xweirdox
    Struggle for faggot cause.
  • mmcinally
    November 16, 2009
    mmcinally
    Although extremely slow at times, the story and acting are excellent. I think I would have recommended cutting 30 minutes, and compressing the format more.
  • laymate1
    November 12, 2009
    laymate1
    good acting, inspirational, James Franco
  • mjgildea
    November 12, 2009
    mjgildea
    Milk is a well-acted and well-directed movie about about the first openly gay American politician. The first hour leading up to Harvey Milk's election as district supervisor wasn't bad, but the last hour that dealt mostly with combating a proposition that would take squash gay ci...( read more)vil rights and essentially the movement itself just seemed generally typical and kind of inspired me to clean my house a little bit out of anxiousness and some low-grade boredom. Like I said, the acting was superb and Gus Van Sant's direction was great (and actually reminiscent at times of his earlier works like Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho) but when the whole thing was put together it just didn't strike me as anything to truly freak out over.
  • sbtrains
    November 9, 2009
    sbtrains
    It shared our history and the film was very good
  • ovidioconb
    November 8, 2009
    ovidioconb
    This fucker Sean Penn really gets into his characters.
  • allefra25
    November 8, 2009
    allefra25
    A very wonderful movie, definitely one of the better biopics I've seen. Sean Penn, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and Josh Brolin were all AMAZING; their performances were very lifelike, specially Sean Penn, who won the Oscar; he embodied Milk perfectly. I thought it got a little le...( read more)ss interesting when Diego Luna's whiny Jack was introduced; obviously, Jack was an important part of Milk's life, but I personally could have done without him. His suicide was sad, but did it have much bearing on the plot afterward? Milk looked sad for a scene and then moved on. Something about the ending bugged me, but endings usually bother me, anyway; it's hard to get me to like an ending. I always end up feeling let down. The candle light march was really nice, but, I don't know...something about it felt incomplete. Although Milk's narration was nice. His narration throughout the entire film was nice, but I had to wonder why he thought he was going to get assassinated, and when did he record that tape, anyway? How soon before his death? Anyway, aside from nitpicky stuff, this movie was excellent, definitely Gus Van Sant's best. The cinematography was excellent, especially in the first hour; there were so many great shots, and not just great, but interesting and even inventive ones. I liked how he didn't change angles a lot in the beginning, and there weren't that many close ups. I liked feeling like a watcher of Milk, someone on the sidelines who watches and gets closer and closer as he gets more and more powerful politically. Two especially beautifully shot scenes I must mention - the scene where Milk is identifying a dead gay man's body on the street. The shot focuses on a whistle, which belonged to the guy, and we only see the people talking from its reflection. It's really quite nice. And then there was this crowd scene that ties into how I said I felt like I was someone who was an admirer of Milk who was watching him; the handy cam was in the crowd, moving around as if it was a person at the parade (or whatever it was) just watching, like everyone else. People's heads were in the way a bit, too. It was very realistic. I would highly recommend this film to everyone. It may have a bit of an "agenda," but it's still a powerful film that parallels what California has been going through the past year or so, and it is also the inspirational story of a man's life, cut short by bigotry. I think everyone can take something positive from this film.
  • theloneowl
    November 6, 2009
    theloneowl
    Č uno di quei film che ti lasciano quel magone piacevole per diversi giorni dopo averlo visto.
    E Sean Penn.. Sean Penn č immenso, come sempre.
  • SeetheChild
    November 4, 2009
    SeetheChild
    I'm not a homo and don't get the mentality, biopics are also my least favourite genre rehashing mostly uninteresting lives (to me) with numerous cliches available. I can't distinguish between Ray and Walk the Line besides the fact there's a black guy in one and a white guy in the...( read more) another. Gus Van Sant is an annoying filmmaker but keeps his shit in check and mostly delivers on making Milk interesting enough to warrant the film, Penn whilst a dickface liberal is pretty damn convincing and real in the portrayal of the man. Solid stuff, worth a view but couldn't sit through it again.
  • aloiselle55
    November 3, 2009
    aloiselle55
    wow loved this movie
    Love Sean Penn
  • 5oclockcoffee
    November 3, 2009
    5oclockcoffee
    Donīt expect anything close to "Elephant", "Last Days" and "Paranoid Park". "Milk" is definitely a mainstream, but purposely. Gus Van Sant hasnīt got caught by the big movie industry, but chose an easy and usual format, wich includes known actors, to make Milkīs story acessible t...( read more)o everyone.
    Very good directed and with brilliant perfomances, specially by Sea Penn, "Milk" is a touching and inspiring political teaching.



  • skbreese
    October 31, 2009
    skbreese
    Superb performance by Sean Penn in this powerful biopic about a pioneer in the gay rights movement in the '70's
  • clooneyfan
    October 31, 2009
    clooneyfan
    I must be old fashioned but I thought Milk was awfully promiscious.
  • BJPan
    October 31, 2009
    BJPan
    Penn's performance is gr8..!!
  • Chiefilms
    October 30, 2009
    Chiefilms
    This was a good film biopic about gay rights activist/politician Harvey Milk. Gus Van Sant was the perfect director for the film not just because he's gay but also because the mood and style of the picture suits him well. The acting was great and the script was great. An hones...( read more)t film that doesn't try to hide anything for the audience's pleasure or comfort, which is why it is a strong film. Sean Penn getting an Oscar for this may have been a little over the top, but it's an Oscar caliber performance. It's an important film and story in many ways. Someone could say "this film is so gay" and that would be a compliment for Milk. It's real gay.
  • thisguyoverhere
    October 29, 2009
    thisguyoverhere
    It does the body good. For realz.

    This Guy Over Here picks this as one of the Best Films of the 2000s
  • HateYouIgnorant
    October 27, 2009
    HateYouIgnorant
    Comwecial or stupid! :|
  • anastasia57001
    October 26, 2009
    anastasia57001
    A very good film and by all means accessible to anyone, which is more than one would expect from Van Sant who's been experimenting in "Elephant" and "Lost days" the last few years. Decent performances, a good script and sound cinematography that has its small, superb surprises- l...( read more)ike the "whistle" shot (no more spoilers) :) Watch it anyway and not only for the social albeit very important message of the fight against intolerance and homophobia.
  • jimbotender
    October 25, 2009
    jimbotender
    And Van Sant created mainstream flavor.The come back post-Elephant era is here,the independent trilogies are on a recess for now and Queer cinema is back on track.Plain,old-school depiction of a very progressive character,Penn shines literally on the lead role,a bio-pic surprise ...( read more)for the 2008 finale,kudos to Brolin's job too.Van Sant encounters the legendary changes on the homosexual field,direct cinema in a beneficial way.
  • pride7x
    October 24, 2009
    pride7x
    Add a review (optional)...
  • ronbeard
    October 23, 2009
    ronbeard
    Everyone SHOULD see this movie!
    Not only does it involve very important subject matter, it's also a cinematic masterpiece. 4-1/2 stars
  • pinkangelfromasia
    October 21, 2009
    pinkangelfromasia
    sean penn here was awesome.. it was really touching that even in his last breath he was still thinking bout his people, was still figuring out things that can help his community even if he was GAY.. i for one dont have any problems with Gays or lesbians and stuffs like that.. we'...( read more)re all equal in many ways its just the way we live our lives..
  • GetToKnowMe121
    October 18, 2009
    GetToKnowMe121
    What a smart, talented and fascinating man Mr. Harvey Milk was. He was also very brave. I like how he said at age 40 he's done nothing to be proud of, and then look how much he accomplished. Amazing! I am glad I got a chance to learn about him, and that portion of his life.
    <...( read more)br/>

    I was sad to read the loser who killed him got off so lightly, and the lame excuse he used. But I guess in the end, Karma got him anyway.



    The movie Milk is really wonderful. If you haven't seen this yet, you really should! It's one of those movies where there's no actors playing characters. It feels like it's all real. They did an excellent job!
  • weikel2000
    October 17, 2009
    weikel2000
    Can't decided if this should have won Best pic, or The Reader. Either way, this was an incredible movie, very well acted throughout. Tells a story that I was not at all aware of, and as far as I'm concerned does a very good job of it, of course I can' speak to how true to life it...( read more) is. I don't understand the mixed reviews that I've seen, i just leads me to believe that either it did was not as true to life and people did not like that, or that the negative reviews are due to homophobes.
  • 76Majikat
    October 14, 2009
    76Majikat
    An extremely worthy tale to tell of the true story of Harvey Milk, Gay and Human rights activist turned politician during the 70?s in San Fransisco.

    Yet another great performance from Penn and very Gus Van Sant to bring a controversial story to light.

    This is a great awaren...( read more)ess story and a legacy that will live on. It also acts as a metaphor for any type of minority, whatever that minority might be.
  • Elinix
    October 14, 2009
    Elinix
    Real solid, an impressive piece of work. Extra credit for a beautiful ending, with a voiceover that actually got to me, predictable or not. Color me impressed.
  • Auraan
    October 13, 2009
    Auraan
    Sean Penn was incredible
  • maddbruddamatt
    October 12, 2009
    maddbruddamatt
    id saay a bit ovverrated but still pretty goood

    sean penn shudnt have got the oscar it belonged to mickey rourke!!!
  • ElCochran90
    October 12, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Harvey Milk was a character that I really admire in the present day. He's one of the most noble and inspiring proofs that anything is possible. Sean Penn definitely gave away the best performance of his entire career. Gus Van Sant stepped away (perhaps temporarily) from American ...( read more)independent cinema to commercial cinema once again and gives a strong competition at the Academy Awards ceremony. Outstanding story to tell. Awesome screenplay as well.

    73/100
  • themasterpiece69
    October 12, 2009
    themasterpiece69
    This movie is okay.The performances are okay.
  • WolfStarthegoldwolf
    October 10, 2009
    WolfStarthegoldwolf
    This looks like an awesome movie.
  • makinsjl
    October 10, 2009
    makinsjl
    The story line was good however I didn't like the way the move was narrated. I have always thought Sean Penn was a great actor.
  • Liesebieke
    October 9, 2009
    Liesebieke
    This movie was worse than I expected. The first part was boring and looked like a Michael Moore documentary, but it wasn't as funny as Moore's documentaries. Only at the end there was a bit more action but this movie is way too long. Really a pity 'cause Sean Pen...( read more)n's acting is once again brilliant.
  • chrismen
    October 8, 2009
    chrismen
    I really wanted to like this movie. The gay scenes did make me a little uncomfortable, but overall the movie fails in terms of plot. It is based on a an actual story which is perhaps the only part of the movie I liked. This movie was so drummed up that I expected more in terms of...( read more) an epic ending. It disappointed,
  • AgentLexi2132
    October 7, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Without hope, life's not worth living.''

    The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

    Sean Penn: Harvey Milk

    How miraculous it is how crucial timing...( read more) is. Released only a few weeks after the passage of Proposition 8 - a measure that took away the rights of same-sex couples to marry in California - Gus Van Sant's Oscar-nominated effort Milk turns back the clock to another point in time, with an all too similar struggle in American civil rights history and to the iconic man who helped to get the ball rolling.

    Harvey Milk was the San Francisco supervisor and gay-rights pioneer who, along with Mayor George Moscone, was shot in city hall in November 1978. The perpetrator, Dan White, a disgruntled fellow board member who had recently resigned his seat, was found guilty of manslaughter, sent to prison for a mere five years, then released in 1984, only to take his own life two years later from guilt I suppose.

    Dustin Lance Black's Oscar-winning screenplay traces Milk's meteoric rise from an obscure, still largely closeted Republican businessman in the early 1970s to the de facto leader of the gay-rights movement that began to take shape during that period. He became the first openly gay man in the state to be elected to public office and, in 1978, he was instrumental in helping to defeat Proposition 6, which, if passed, would have made it illegal for homosexuals (and even straight supporters of homosexuals!) to teach in California public schools (was this really only thirty years ago?). Throughout all this, Milk managed to develop a large, highly charged grass roots organization, the purpose of which was not merely to combat bigotry wherever it reared its ugly head but to win over the hearts and minds of the people in their community and the nation as a whole.

    ''My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you!''

    There has been some arguments and complaints leveled against the movie that it is too reverential in its treatment of Milk, that it paints him too much as a saint and not enough as an ordinary human being being with the requisite number of weaknesses and flaws to make him truly viable as a character. Even if one were to accept that charge, it still doesn't take into consideration the very special quality that Sean Penn himself brings to the role. With obviously heightened mannerisms that he is careful never to allow to slide over into caricature or camp, Penn makes Milk both charismatically larger-than-life and recognizably human at one and the same time. Whether he's in front of a crowd rallying the troops with his megaphone or enjoying a tender moment with his longtime boyfriend, Scott Smith, Penn allows us see the many facets of this obviously complex man.

    In a movie chock full of outstanding supporting performances, James Franco as Smith, Josh Brolin as Dan White, and Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, a rootless young man inspired by Milk to become a lifelong activist, are the obvious standouts.

    As a director, Van Sant keeps things moving at an almost whirlwind pace, beautifully balancing the "big" scenes of rallies and marches with the more intimate moments depicting Milk's relationships with those around him. At times Van Sant brings an almost documentary-style immediacy to the film, seamlessly blending actual footage from that era (much of it of Anita Bryant and her anti-gay crusade) with convincingly staged re-enactments of events at that time. Obviously wanting to end on a positive note, the movie mentions but does not dramatize the White Night Riots which took place in the city following the assassinations, instead focusing on the enormous candlelight march that wended its way through the shocked and devastated city. Thus, the ending, like the movie itself, is a necessary and deeply moving reminder of how the courage of one individual to stand up for what he knows is right can inspire others to follow in his footsteps - and change the world at the same time.

    ''All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.''
  • swimbikebeer
    October 6, 2009
    swimbikebeer
    he deserved every bit of the acadamy award on this fine performance
  • sjocel
    October 5, 2009
    sjocel
    sean pean is great..
  • jekoaguado
    October 2, 2009
    jekoaguado
    It was a faggot film but it was great. It had great actors and and has a great script.
  • LoveAndDestroy
    October 1, 2009
    LoveAndDestroy
    Inspirational, sad, moving...just brilliant.
  • mannly
    September 30, 2009
    mannly
    Wow! The reviews and the Oscars don't even do this film justice. It's really empowering to watch the story of someone like Milk, who campaigned so much for not only us gays, but all minorities. It's people like him, and the gays involved in the Stonewall riots that paved the way ...( read more)for us to be so much luckier today and not have to hide in the woodwork. I wasn't a Sean Penn fan at all until watching this film, but he embodied the real-life character he played. From smiling to anger to crying... This movie brought out every emotion. Phenomenal.