Milk
(Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008)
Sean Penn? Yeah, he’s got Milk. Indeed, he brings real-person Harvey Milk to magnanimous life — a gay slacker who moves to San Francisco with his adorable, mustachioed boyfriend/James Franco by his side, gets elected as City Supervisor in 1977, provokes fellow supervisor Dan White/James Brolin to assassinate him 11 months into office. Of course, Penn is, indeed, Oscar-able, but it’s his campaign team of young players — Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Alison Pill — that add spirit to the heartwarming/heartbreaking retelling. Plus, director Gus Van Sant doesn’t skimp on long, lingering shots of a pretty boy — in this case, that would be Franco. YESTERDAY’S DO-IT: Vic Mackey’s last, last stand!