The Normal Heart

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.

I'm a pretty huge fan of American Horror Story, but even I can recognize that it's just a very entertaining, corny trash-fest. Having seen nothing else from Ryan Murphy, I had no idea he had this in him, to direct a film with this much grace and eloquence. Compared to last year's Dallas Buyers Club, this is much better. If it had gotten a theatrical release, it very well could have gotten a lot of Oscar nominations. Although much of the cast is great, Matt Bommer really sails high and above everyone else. Incredible performance, very much an Oscar-winning one if there ever was, and so I hope he gets to win the Emmy at least. This is highly recommended.

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.

This is such a well told story. Mark Ruffalo has always been an amazing actor, however here he really takes center stage.He has not had such an impacting role since his breakthrough performance in you can count on me. Julia Roberts and Matt Bomer are also excellent. It is great to see so many great actors coming together to tell such an important story. A scene towards the end of the movie between Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer has particularly stayed with me and really pulled at the heart strings. It is a story that needed to be told and the way the gay community were ignored during this period of time is a disgrace. This is a better movie that the much lauded Dallas Buyers Club and needs to find a wide audience.

I never cry when watching movies or reading books but this one really got to me. I believe it was an important story that needed to be told. The movie was brought alive by amazing actors (especially Matt Bomer<3) I really do hope that this movie is taken seriously and gets more attention due to the fact that more people need to know about AIDs awareness and because discrimination and segregation still happens within the gay community which I find absolutely disgusting. If we really did believe in equal rights and all that BS we wouldn't be shunning gay people. And for those of you who are saying only gay people can enjoy this movie that is so stupid. I'm 100% straight and loved this definitely I my top 10 fav movies:) I definitely recommend watching this movie!