Harvey Milk was the first openly Gay man elected to public office in California in 1977. There have been many documentations of Milk’s life, including the documentary called "The Times of Harvey Milk," which won an academy award in 1984.

All good things will eventually (in this case, 24 years later) be appropriated by Hollywood cinema. Even though it’s been an inordinate amount of time, Hollywood did it right this time. Sean Penn’s Milk is an inspiring portrait of the man who united the gay population in the late 1970s. He is confident and tragic, torn between his obligation to the movement and his love for Scott Smith (James Franco), his long-time partner.

The film’s directing, spliced with actual archived news footage, reminds us that cinema doesn’t need to be flashy or beautiful to be moving. The bottom line: See this movie.