Fridae

Is director Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho) trying to make straight men gay? Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna and Lucas Gabreel are all straight actors who have willingly squeezed into pink tees and campy bell-bottoms to play flamboyant gay men living in the 1970s. Never have we seen so many well-known straight actors play gay - and so well, too - in one film.

And why wouldn't they?

Milk tells the true story of an amazing man named Harvey Milk, who became the first openly-gay politician to be elected in America. In the hands of the Cannes-winning director Gus Van Sant, this biopic has become one of the most acclaimed and important films of 2008 - a complete shoo-in for an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for Sean Penn.

The 2-hour film chronicles eight years in the life of Milk (Sean Penn), as he tries again and again to win public office in San Francisco. After many failed attempts, his longtime boyfriend (James Franco) leaves him. But Milk refuses to give up. He wins in the end, but his victory comes at a price�

Director Gus Van Sant, who is openly gay, has made the best film of his career. Milk is intelligent, compelling, beautifully-crafted, superbly-acted, important, and, most of all, inspiring. Sean Penn plays Milk as a warm and soulful man who just wants everyone to see how ordinary (and good) gay people are.

Indeed, Milk is one of the few mainstream motion pictures to portray so many gay people living their lives as ordinarily as straight people do. The screen is filled to the brim with gay folks talking, bitching, joking, loving, quarreling, cooking, eating, sleeping and, above all, dreaming of a better tomorrow, and fighting for it.

You can't call yourself gay if you miss this picture. Watch it and be inspired.