I am not a Sean Penn fan. In fact, his being in a movie is more likely to make me not want to watch it than otherwise. Despite that, I wanted to see Milk the moment I saw that goofy sweet Harvey Milk grin in the trailers.  I was not disappointed; I really enjoyed his performance. I should say I really enjoyed all the performances, more than one of which is award worthy.

It's incredible how far and little we've come in 30 years.   In 1982, Harry Hamlin literally risked his career to play a character who has a homosexual relationship; there was less talk about the movie than there was on his choice in roles.  In 2008, it seems all the young male stars were eager to play gay men (Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco) without fear of stigma.

Yet the irony won't be lost on anyone when it comes to drawing parallels between Prop 6 of 1978 and Prop 8. 

It's a solid film that doesn't really break any new ground; however, that's not a bad thing.  Director Van Sant should be commended on weaving in archival footage as well as letting the story tell itself.   

If you're interested in learning more about Harvey Milk, check out the 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk.