The Dack enjoys some Milk...

On my quest to see all the Best Picture nominees I ventured out to see this years most politically polarizing film...

The Dack was looking forward to seeing some great acting with a cast that included, Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, and Emile Hirsch and he wasn't disappointed. It was nice to see Sean Penn transform himself into the well know political figure, Harvey Milk and the Dack is sure that he will probably win the Oscar for best actor because Hollywood will want to flex its muscle after this years California Prop 8 battle. Although his performance might be the best of the year the Dack can't say for sure until he checks out The Wrestler which he is planning on doing later this week.

While there are those that are going to dismiss this film simply for it's story about a bunch of Gay Rights activists..... the Dack thought that the history covered in this film was actually something worth knowing about. The movie shows that in the 60's and 70's there were people being attacked and killed for being openly homosexual but I had no idea that in 1978 there was a proposition in California that was going to allow public schools to fire anyone who was homosexual, and even fire someone working in schools who supported homosexuality. In 1978 this proposition almost passed in California even with former California Governor Ronald Regan and current President Jimmy Carter speaking out against it. Harvey Milk being the first openly gay politician elected to a major political office became a larger than life figure in his fight against prop 6. It was in this atmosphere that Gay Rights was launched into the national spotlight. Before this even the Democratic Party did not have anything on their platform concerning Gay Rights. Sitting in the theater I was surprised that I had no knowledge of these events even thought they took place only 30 years before.

I understand that this films subject probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I for one thought this was a very well crafted Biography film while not as moving as Braveheart, it is defiantly on the same level as Walk the Line and Beautiful Mind, mainly due to excellent performances by the entire cast most notably Sean Penn and James Brolin who are both nominated for Oscars... Milk winds up with sevenDacks.