"Milk"

I saw this movie on Christmas day and found it to be a very emotional experience.

Now I never actually saw Harvey Milk speak but I found Sean Penn's portrayal to be very reminiscent of Paul Wellstone- who I personally saw and heard several times.

I appreciated being reminded of such passion for politics but also was reminded of such a painful loss. Even six years later- that loss is still a significant one for me- all the more raw at this time because of the on-going battle to fill that seat in the senate.

As for the movie, I expected an interesting study of a particularly colorful time in our history. I was not disappointed.

There were a few anachronistic moments- most notably when Cleve Jones (as played by Emile Hirsch) says to Harvey -about helping with a future campaign- "I don't do losing!" If anyone- gay or straight- said such a thing with such a tone prior to the 1990's, even in California - I would be very surprised.

That moment, as seen in a preview made me want to hate the character and Hirsch's portrayal of him. But, once I let go of this 'bad writing' moment I found the character to be a rather enjoyable addition to the whole experience.

I also found it troubling that the writing and direction chose to suggest a possible "closeted gay" aspect of Dan White. It was unnecessary to the story and played into a kind of "everybody is gay" attitude of some gay activists. Indeed, this might have been part of Milk's persona but with nothing else in the movie to indicate that was the case the whole tangent became an unnecessary distraction.

Penn is fantastic in the role. And I rarely feel that way about Penn. As I said before, Hirsch is enjoyable. Franco Is also very good in this movie. He is understated and enjoyable. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

I do wish they would have spent more time in this movie focussing on the on events of the time- even the ones that connect to the storyline. I recall vividly, as a highschool student at the time, feeling very amused by the rantings of Anita Bryant. These could have been covered more, including the 'pie in the face incident' or at least one "squeeze a fruit for Anita Bryant" t-shirt.

Do not wait to see this on DVD. The connections to the current fight in California regarding the recent proposition 8 and the battle of that time cannot be ignored.