"The Normal Heart" HBO 5/25

[morrobay]

Mark Ruffalo & Taylor Kitsch in HBO's 'Normal Heart' Teaser

by Ethan Anderton   
March 10, 2014
Source: HBO

The Normal Heart is directed by Ryan Murhpy ("Glee" and "The New Normal") and written by Larry Kramer, based on his own Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name. The story follows the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial. Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons and Julia Roberts all star in the film which premieres exclusively on HBO on May 25th at 9pm Eastern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaaTQLMEETw

[Jeff Wrangler]

I watched it Sunday night (since I discovered that I do receive HBO as part of my cable service  ), and it is to be highly recommended.

I've never seen the play, so I can't compare it to the stage version, but I thought everyone was very good. Somewhere I read a criticism of Julia Roberts as the doctor, but I thought she was fine in the role. And Matt Bomer sure is a lot more than just one of the prettiest men alive: He's an amazingly brave actor to take on his role.

[CellarDweller]

I don't have hbo, so I wasn't able to see it, but everyone who saw it that I know raved about it.

[tforster]

This movie is beautiful. Matt Bomer's performance is heartbreaking.

[tforster]

Unless there's a different thread that I've not seen.. I am surprised there has been so little discussion about The Normal Heart which aired on HBO over the past month. Perhaps a lot of people have not had the opportunity to see it yet? (It'll be out on DVD in August)

I feel this film is so important to the gay community... a testament to what happened in the early 1980's in America when AIDS ravaged the gay male population in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and beyond. The suffering and loss were terrible but more importantly AIDS was a disease which the government/public labeled a disease of gay men and therefore not worthy of significant notice or funding for years. As horrible as AIDS is/was (it was literally a death sentence in the 80's) I think it did more to unite and galvanize the gay community in America more than anything before or after. Without AIDS and organizations like Gay Mens Health Crisis and Act Up I don't think the strides towards legalization of same sex marriage in the USA would be where it is now.

That being said, the performances in this film are outstanding... especially Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer. The chemistry and love between them is palpable and as much as I love BBM, The Normal Heart feels like the real thing to me. The scenes when Matt Bomer's character is sick and dying are heartbreakingly real... he lost 40 pounds for filming the latter half of the movie so that he could accurately portray a man dying of AIDS.

If you've not yet seen The Normal Heart, there are some great clips/videos on YouTube. I especially love the video titled: "The Normal Heart, I See You".... also, another "The Normal Heart, Feel". These music videos give away a lot of the movie's plot.. but I think they are beautiful

I hope you will view The Normal Heart when it becomes available where you live.

[gattaca]

Ditto.
I was able to watch this a few weeks ago and images and performances are still reverberating around my head.  Tough film to watch knowing it's not far removed from many (if any) realities.  V.

[Mandy21]

I got it from the library and watched it today.  Wow.  I've seen several documentaries and dramas on the beginnings of the HIV crisis, but the performances of all of the actors in this set it well apart.  Julia Roberts' role was played with the perfect blend of harsh reality, terror, chauvinism against her, but with true love and caring guiding and pushing her along her quest to discover the roots of the transmission of this then-deadly disease.  5 stars.