Milk
Rent & Buy
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
What critics thought
Gus Van Sant's biography of Harvey Milk drew broad critical admiration for Sean Penn's performance and Dustin Lance Black's screenplay, with most reviewers finding the film warmly human rather than preachy. Where critics divided was on whether that warmth came at the cost of honesty — some felt the film smoothed over Milk's more combative edges and sidestepped the political complexity of his assassination, reducing a genuinely thorny history to an uplifting arc.
“while Milk is unquestionably marked by many mandatory scenes . . . the quality of the writing, acting and directing generally invests them with the feel of real life and credible personal interchange, rather than of scripted stops along the way from aspiration to triumph to tragedy. And on a project whose greatest danger lay in its potential to come across as agenda-driven agitprop, the filmmakers have crucially infused the story with qualities in very short supply today – gentleness and a humane embrace of all its characters.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
Accolades
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Gus Van SantDirector
Sean PennHarvey Milk
Emile HirschCleve Jones
Josh BrolinDan White
Diego LunaJack Lira
James FrancoScott Smith
Alison PillAnne Kronenberg
Victor GarberMayor Moscone
Denis O'HareJohn Briggs
Joseph CrossDick Pabich
Stephen SpinellaRick Stokes
Boyd HolbrookDenton Smith
Lucas GrabeelDanny Nicoletta
Danny ElfmanComposer
Dustin Lance BlackWriter
Harris SavidesCinematographyFrom the studio
Milk
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
What critics thought
Gus Van Sant's biography of Harvey Milk drew broad critical admiration for Sean Penn's performance and Dustin Lance Black's screenplay, with most reviewers finding the film warmly human rather than preachy. Where critics divided was on whether that warmth came at the cost of honesty — some felt the film smoothed over Milk's more combative edges and sidestepped the political complexity of his assassination, reducing a genuinely thorny history to an uplifting arc.
“while Milk is unquestionably marked by many mandatory scenes . . . the quality of the writing, acting and directing generally invests them with the feel of real life and credible personal interchange, rather than of scripted stops along the way from aspiration to triumph to tragedy. And on a project whose greatest danger lay in its potential to come across as agenda-driven agitprop, the filmmakers have crucially infused the story with qualities in very short supply today – gentleness and a humane embrace of all its characters.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
Accolades
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Gus Van SantDirectorSean PennHarvey MilkEmile HirschCleve JonesJosh BrolinDan WhiteDiego LunaJack LiraJames FrancoScott SmithAlison PillAnne KronenbergVictor GarberMayor MosconeDenis O'HareJohn BriggsJoseph CrossDick PabichStephen SpinellaRick StokesBoyd HolbrookDenton SmithLucas GrabeelDanny NicolettaDanny ElfmanComposerDustin Lance BlackWriterHarris SavidesCinematographyFrom the studio
Rent & Buy