Kirk Honeycutt, writing for the Hollywood Reporter:
“Milk” is the first great film to look at civil rights from the perspective of the gay movement. The subject, of course, is the late, charismatic San Francisco gay activist and politician of the 1970s, Harvey Milk, played with extraordinary depth and wisdom by Sean Penn. “Milk” resists bumper-sticker identifications: Yes, it’s a biopic, a love story, a civil rights movie and sharp political and social commentary. But it transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope.
And Todd McCarthy of Variety:
After five years spent working on the more experimental fringe, Gus Van Sant fluently returns to the relative mainstream with “Milk,” an adroitly and tenderly observed account of the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man voted into significant U.S. public office. Smartly handled study of the San Francisco politician’s powerful effect on individuals and society accurately catches a moment in American political life three decades ago, but is most notable for the surprising and entirely winning performance by Sean Penn in the leading role. Almost the definition of a specialized audience film, this Focus release looks to perform strongly in urban and university-adjacent areas but will have trouble crossing over to a public not into gay, political and social-vanguard issues. Commentators will not fail to note certain parallels with the current political season, encapsulated by its hero’s parting line, “You gotta give ’em hope.”
