The Normal Heart

Just watched the HBO original movie the "Normal Heart" which is based on a Tony award winning play from real life AIDS activist Larry Kramer, and I must say that director Ryan Murphy took this film to life's edge showing that love and life ends in the tragic and sad deaths of gay men. Set in New York city during the early to mid 80's at the very early stages of HIV/AIDS in fact the film shows the first deaths and early cases of gay men getting an unknown disease some called even a gay men's cancer plague. In these very early years the disease was still searching for a name and it was known only as a gay disease. After death after death a newspaper reporter Ned Weeks(in a super performance from Mark Ruffalo)starts to become an activist and fight for the rights of gay men and he faces a big climb from the political and medical community who both seem in denial of gay men's rights and they have no clue on how to treat the disease. Ned sees the pain and toll that it takes as his lover Felix(Matt Bomer)falls to defeat in the end from this new mysterious killer of gay men. In an outstanding performance veteran Julia Roberts is high strong and determined as a polio stricken doctor Brookner who was one of the first in the country to treat gay men for this disease. She has hope and fights for change. Overall this film is a painful watch about life, love, and in the end death still it's message is it's okay to fight for life and equal justice even if your different and love one of your own gender. Overall a must watch film that shows the early harsh days of the AIDS birth.

Heart-rending, gut-wrenching adaptation by Larry Kramer of his own successful play about the foundation and formation in 1982 of the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City in the wake of what was then-called the Gay Cancer (now HIV/AIDS). Dramatization of events, with Mark Ruffalo's screenwriter Ned Weeks substituting for Kramer, is necessarily a no-holds-barred examination of gay sex in the '80s and its consequences, with the gay community themselves their own worst enemy (by being asked to abstain in the wake of more information on the disease, they felt oppressed as a modern culture and rebelled). In spite of an agonizingly long gestation period for this material (which Barbra Streisand optioned years ago, but was unable to finance), director Ryan Murphy has crafted an immediate and powerful document, alternately angry, sexy, tough, moving and thoughtful. Though "Longtime Companion" and the cable-film "And The Band Played On" have covered the AIDS epidemic (and done it extremely well), that does not lessen the impact of this HBO film, which packs an emotional wallop. Performances from Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Alfred Molina, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and the entire cast are superlative.

When I sat down to watch The Normal Heart, I had no idea just how much I was about to be moved, amazed, traumatized, enraged, heartbroken, and enlightened. I've been passionate about gay rights and issues ever since I knew what it was to be gay, and I had not one clue how horrible the AIDS epidemic was at its inception. The Normal Heart is an unflinching look at a horrific time in our history where human beings were treated by the masses as garbage. Literally. And that's when they were even being acknowledged at all. Every actor involved gave an Oscar-worthy performance, ironically in a movie that is not eligible for the award. Mark Ruffalo's passion jumps right out of the screen at you, and in both its most angry and its most devastating, you're right there with him. Julia Roberts gives an Erin Brockovich-like performance times ten. Jim Parsons is wonderful in the first role most of us are seeing him outside of Sheldon Cooper, both with his moments of humor and more importantly with his heart. Many kudos also to Taylor Kitsch, Joe Mantello, Alfred Molina, Finn Wittrock, and of course Ryan Murphy for his fearless and beautiful direction. But Matt Bomer... Matt Bomer is THE star among stars, pulling at every single one of your heartstrings in one of the bravest roles ever committed to film. This is without a doubt one of the most important movies you will ever see.

Movie that details when AIDS hit in 1981...and the government did nothing to stop it (because it was killing just gay men). It has writer Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) fighting a battle to get the news out and attacking the NYC government for doing nothing to stop it. He also falls in love with Felix Turner (Matt Bomer) a newspaper reporter. It follows him and his friends up to 1984 when the epidemic becomes too big to ignore.

I came out in 1981 and this movie captures EXACTLY what it was like. The anger, fear, hysteria and homophobia surrounding AIDS made life a living hell for gay men. This movie made me cry more than once because it bought back all the memories of friends dying...and no one seemed to care. Ruffalo is GREAT in the lead role. More than once he explodes and perfectly captures the anger and frustration gay men were feeling back then. Basically mostly the entire cast was great. Bomer was good as Felix, Julia Roberts was GREAT as a doctor who is handicapped and very frank and Taylor Kitsch was good as Bruce Niles. The only bad performance was by Jim Parsons. He tries a dramatic role and was terrible. Very wooden. Also the movie is a too long and the ending overly dramatic. Still this is essential viewing....especially for gay teens who have no idea what we went through. VERY depressing but it must be seen.

The Normal Heart is powerful emotional film about the early days of the AIDS crisis. While the characters are fictionalized, the events and the struggles are all too real. The film provides a valuable history lesson for those too young to remember the politics and emotions of the early days of the AIDS epidemic. The film dramatizes the criminal neglect of both the Reagan administration and Ed Koch's administration in New York City. It shows the complexity of the struggles within the gay community as they tried to come to grips with an epidemic while still trying to challenge a culture that barely acknowledged their existence. In many ways, the film dramatizes just how far we have come and still suggests that we have a long way to go. Some scenes are simply heart-breaking. The film is well-acted particularly by Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Alfred Molina and Julia Roberts. HBO has shown again that it is in the forefront of bringing socially conscious drama to the screen and for that they should be commended. I recommend the film to all who are willing to watch with an open heart.