Sean Penn's Gay History Closeted

Intensive marketing is usually essential to bring audiences to the movie theaters. However, when it comes to the Sean Penn film Milk, the opposite may be true.

The film is about gay politician Harvey Milk, a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, who fought and won significant equal rights battles. He was assassinated in 1978.

As with films like Oliver Stone's W., Focus Features feels that over-promoting Milk will seem a bit too political and preachy for peoples' tastes.

"The best way to help this film win over a mainstream audience is to avoid partisanship," said one person involved with the film. "And the best way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out about the film from the film itself."

Considering the ongoing controversy over gay marriage, it's not surprising that Focus would want to let the film, and the reviews, speak for themselves.