Movies that get you thinking. Movies that can put you to shame, fill you with pride, laugh, cry and feel an enormous amount of love for the humans in them. These are the movies worth watching, and "The Normal Heart" is definitely one of them.
If you watched the 2014 Emmy’s, you probably heard about this message-soaked film that came out with four wins out of 13 nominations, including outstanding television movie. But since the movie was made for television it passed over the glazed eyes of moviegoers only bent on headed to a theater to find the next great flick (yes, I mean me too) and damn does this movie deserve a better audience.
The AIDS/HIV epidemic is rising in 1980s NYC, and Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) along with friends who are slowly dwindling away, band together and form an activist organization to raise money and cure this mysterious “Gay Cancer” (yes, that's what it was called back then) that is killing everyone they love.
In the wake of the tragedy of the Orlando shooting, it seems to me that this film provides a reference to the notion that the way America treats the LGBT community has not come far. We reached the milestone of legal marriage for all, but on a personal level, we seem to be lacking a basic human acceptance of what it means to love one another. While we see this in our daily lives, I think this film can offer a staggering comparison of today's tragedies, issues and hot topics to those of the 1980s.
Mark Ruffalo honestly shocked me in this film. Not only was he relate-able and passionate, his persona was infectious and developed the right kind of character to make you root for him throughout the film. I didn’t expect much from Ruffalo…It’s not that I’m not a fan, but I’ve seen enough of his films to be fairly used to his acting style. This film absolutely destroyed all previous opinions of him. An absolutely outstanding performance worthy of any and all awards that come his way.
Other performances of note include the always outstanding Julia Roberts as Dr. Emma Brookner, The only doctor willing to investigate the “Gay Cancer” for this fast growing group of victims. The frustration she portrays to her colleagues when asking for help in this investigation and they turn her down is incredible… if anything, watch the film for her scene in which she loses her mind after being denied funding for further research. Absolutely noteworthy.
Any and all of this star-studded cast can be profiled on their incredible performances. The fact of it is, every one of them brings the right flavor to the story to give it the spice and tragedy it needs, and its poignancy reigns ever true as we sit here in 2016.
Watch. It. Now.
WARNING: nudity, swearing and sensitive content.
Rated: R
