Newsmax.com gives "Milk" positive review

[davidinalameda]

I'm shocked! I doubt the average Newsmax reader is the target audience for Milk but maybe this review is a good thing and it even praises Sean Penn's performance which is even more shocking since Penn is no favorite of the right wingers

http://www.newsmax.com/entertainment/film_review_milk/2008/11/24/154842.html

Gus Van Sant has spent the past few years making dreamy, amorphous meditations on life and death that seemingly were intended for his hardcore fans, himself, and no one else. "Gerry," "Elephant," "Last Days," "Paranoid Park" _ all beautifully, defiantly languid works of art that most audiences would dismiss for their pretensions.

With "Milk," though, Van Sant boldly returns to mainstream filmmaking with a story that, on its surface, could have been shamelessly mawkish. Instead, he presents the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the slain San Francisco politician and gay rights activist, with a mix of vivid details and nuanced heart.

He's also drawn from Sean Penn one of the most glorious performances ever in the actor's long and varied career. Van Sant and Penn could have deified this man, who did so much for so many and worked so tirelessly for so long, and paid the ultimate price. And yes, we see all that _ the sacrifice and the struggle and the infinite wellspring of hope in the face of failure. But we also see Milk's all-consuming drive, often at the expense of his personal life. We see the way he could manipulate and cajole, even if it was for the greater good.

Penn depicts Milk as a man defined by a charming persistence. He had a way with words and a love of the spotlight and an infinite sense of inclusiveness. He was, in short, a jumble of contradictions, all of which Penn captures gracefully and effortlessly _ there's nothing mannerly about his performance, just a deeply engaging immersion.