Replaying that "I'll never make it to 50" scene was unnecessary, and the whole "Dan White in the closet angle" as well. Could have done without the suicidal wheelchair kid too. It never feels like Crash-level Oscar bait but it has its manipulative moments that produced nothing more from me than a roll of the eyes and maybe a little giggle. Other than that, it's great.

I'm having a hard time rating this one for a couple of reasons. First off, I loved this film. The acting was perfect from everyone in here. I don't think enough people are talking about the sublime job that Josh Brolin did in this movie. On the flip side, do I love it more than a movie like Dr. Strangelove? dangit, how is that fair? But yeah, I do enjoy this film a lot.

Quite possibly, the best film about human rights I have ever seen. Everything about this pic is perfect and memorable. Ensemble cannot be better. Makes me want to protest.

As far as inspirational biopics this is really well done with wonderful performances and a story with enough uniqueness to feel fresh. At a couple of points it gets overly sappy but on the whole it's effective.

This was definitely a story worth telling. It was both interesting and relevant and the posthumous tribute to Harvey Milk was well-deserved. I kind of wished the ending wasn't so heavily foreshadowed, but I guess it had to be done that way for narration purposes. I wouldn't necessarily watch this a second time, but glad I saw it once. Oh, and I thought the real footage interspersed throughout was key. Some aspects might have been hard to believe if not for them.

Tech credits are unshowy and perfectly realized, from the cinematography by Van Sant regular Harris Savides, to the costume and production designs, to the soundtrack and music score by Danny Elfman. The film looks, sounds and feels like the 1970s, rather than a fictional representation of the time period.

The acting was the highlight of this film (all actors were on the top of their game), since I couldn't give a shit about the story, and I wonder if Penn did, I mean how many oscar juicy roles can one guy pick. Anyway, don't hold it against me, because I do think it's one of Van Sant's better efforts.

A really good story with a lot of great subplots, storylines, and characters. A little heavy on the Seanpennyness, but still great.

Unafraid to make a point; the acting, writing and cinematography are all excellent.

Another Sean Penn tour de force but I just wish Gus Van Sant had allowed his unique style to shine through. Nonetheless "Milk" is certainly an enjoyable film.

Overrated. Great acting, but I felt that the script itself was formulaic. I feel as though I've seen this kind of movie a dozen times.

I loved Milk. Sean Penn gives the performance of his career in Van Sant's best offering yet. This showcases a marvelous story of hope, change, and struggle in a community that needed a hero and when push came to shove, got one in an unlikely place. Milk is marvelous and is certainly riveting. It's hard not to be emotionally gripped by the story here. Milk as a character is so full of depth. Look to this one come awards season.

Great acting, wonderful direction, but the script was standard for a biography, which is fine, but as a film it could have been greater? I'm not sure, but there was something missing in the script, not that it wasn't good, but that it wasn't great.

If there is an American hero deserving of a big budget biopic, Harvey Milk is at the top of the list. Doesn't provide any deep insight or try and explore past what the public generally knows about Milk (which outside of the Bay and gay communities seems to be very little) but it passes the time, and Penn looks a lot like Milk. I saw a picture of Milk in the Castro around the premiere and thought it was Penn in a publicity shot. Weak ending, it just blows over the stupid Twinkie defense.

Great movie about the power of an individual to influence the world and bring about change. Sean Penn does a fabulous job. Hated his spanish lover though - the guy was as annoying as could be imagined. If there's anything bad to say about this movie, it's the fact that it portrays Milk's sex life as being pretty promiscuous, which seemed unnecessary. The movie also struck me as somewhat sympathetic to Dan White, as if he were the victim of bullying rather than the bully himself.

Great performances by Penn, Franco and Brolin. The story is a bit unimpressive though.

An other great mainstream not so cheesy gay movie.

I shouldn't rate this as I couldn't watch it the whole way through, but it seemed quite good. My problem (and the reason I had to stop watching it) was too much male nudity and sexxing. Nothing wrong with it but it rather turned me off to the movie.

Brilliantly acted and constructed, Van Sant does well to let the story tell itself. I felt the only weak aspect of the film was the score, which was frequently absurdly over the top.

Sean Penn is bang on as ever, Gus Van Sant dresses up a conventional biography with some nice touches and in the end we have a very effective little flick.

I really just didn't find this movie that interesting. I think Penn overall does a good job in his role, and I was shocked by Hirsch's role (mainly because I just never knew it was him until the credits). It just didn't have as much power as i thought it would. For the historic story it was telling I thought I would be pulled more into the story, but I just never was.