Milk

Milk
Director:Gus Van Sant
Writer :Dustin Lance Black
Sean Penn ... Harvey Milk
Emile Hirsch ... Cleve Jones
Josh Brolin ... Dan White
Diego Luna ... Jack Lira

What happened? What went wrong?
I'm a huge fan of Gus Van Sant, Sean Pean and Josh Brolin but there's something oddly off about this film.

I almost get the impression that Penn and Van Sant watched Brokeback Mountain and hurriedly picked up a project to cash in.

A lot of the acting is flamboyant limp wristed over the top stereotype. It's distracting and unnecessary.

The direction is good with a very nice period field but I can't help feel disappointed that more could not have been done with such a great compelling true storyline.

Knowing a bit about the real Harvey Milk does not help the viewer either because this movie is a love letter from start to Finnish and leaves out the bare knuckle political side of Milk.
It's also takes a huge liberty with the Dan White character making some rather outrageous impressions that most if not everyone familiar with politics of the time in San Fransisco would find laughable.But I'm not here to ruin the story for you.

It's a nice film. Great subject matter. It will tug at your heart strings but overall you may leave feeling empty as I did.
6 out of 10 stars.