Milk (2008) // dir. Gus van Sant

Penn flexes his acting muscles in this political biopic.

Milk follows the real life story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn). From his and boyfriend Scott's (James Franco) arrival in San Francisco from New York in the early 70's, to his assassination in 1978, Milk's short but fulfilling political career changed America forever. Milk's political life is narrated to us by Penn via an audio recording to be played in the likely event of his assassination. Starting out as a camera shop owner, Milk quickly becomes an influential character within The Castro area of San Francisco. After giving himself the title "the mayor of The Castro", and surrounding himself with an entourage of supporters and lifelong friends, Milk decides to repeatedly run for office in order to campaign for equality rights - much to the displeasure of colleague and rival, Dan White (Josh Brolin). Milk is a prime example of a finely executed biopic; one that is rightly concerned with very accurate storytelling and honest performances, which ultimately makes the audience empathise with Milk, and root for him to succeed. There is also an accompaniment of authentic 1970's news footage which simultaneously breaks up the storyline, and helps to explain each major political development. The casting is terrific, featuring an abundance of familiar faces (Emilie Hirsch, James Franco, Alison Pill) who are given the opportunity to flaunt their acting talents. Also, Brolin tactfully builds the tension to a climactic boiling point as Milk's supervisor and arch-nemesis. However, it is Penn that is truly outstanding in this empowering and heartfelt role - which he deservedly won his second Oscar for. He fully embodies the titular character, and accurately channels Milk's warmth and likeability, whilst also displaying his fragility and inability to find the appropriate balance between his relationships and politics (something both of Milk's boyfriends struggle to cope with throughout the film). The only minor weakness was, due to it being a story spanning over a number of years, in parts it did feel overlong and you may find your interest waning slightly.

Nonetheless, this is a fantastic, well-written and well-acted biopic of a man who you'll wish you knew about sooner.