There is less reporting on poverty in America than on any other major societal issue. So it is with AIDS. That alone makes The Normal Heart an important film.
The Normal Heart
To win a war, You have to start one
2014 · 2h 12m · TV-MA
Drama
Directed by
Ryan Murphy
Overview
The story of 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.
Director and cast
- Ryan Murphy Director
- Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks
- Jim Parsons as Tommy Boatwright
- Matt Bomer as Felix Turner
- Julia Roberts as Emma Brookner
- Jonathan Groff as Craig
- Taylor Kitsch as Bruce Niles
- Alfred Molina as Ben Weeks
- Denis O'Hare as Hiram Keebler
- Finn Wittrock as Albert
- Remy Auberjonois as Examining Doctor
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
If anger and suffering were all there were to The Normal Heart, watching it would be torture. Luckily, it has heart to match its guts.
Matt Bomer is heartbreaking as a New York Times style reporter looking for love in a loveless city. His physical transformation is astonishing and agonizing.
Time, and rewrites, have softened some of the play's stridency. More important, the romance between Weeks (Ruffalo) and his lover, Felix (Bomer), is given a more prominent role as is Felix's death spiral, giving the story power both broad and intimate.
Moving, well acted and important for a generation who may be unfamiliar with the source material. But the TV version, also written by Kramer, doesn't have the emotional heft of the play.
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