The Normal Heart (2014)

A gay activist attempts to raise H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. awareness during the early 1980s.

Director:

Ryan Murphy

Writers:

Larry Kramer (screenplay), Larry Kramer (play)

Stars:

Mark Ruffalo, Jonathan Groff, Frank De Julio

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 28 wins & 55 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Ruffalo	...	Ned Weeks
Jonathan Groff	...	Craig
Frank De Julio	...	Nick
William DeMeritt	...	Nino
Taylor Kitsch	...	Bruce Niles
Joe Mantello	...	Mickey Marcus
Sean Meehan	...	Morton
Stephen Spinella	...	Sanford
Jill Melanie Wirth	...	Receptionist
BD Wong	...	Buzzy
Julia Roberts	...	Dr. Emma Brookner
Jim Parsons	...	Tommy Boatwright
Adam B. Shapiro	...	Bella (as Adam Shapiro)
John Mainieri	...	John
Matt Bomer	...	Felix Turner

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

gay | gay men's health crisis | hiv | aids epidemic | new york city | 

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Taglines:

To win a war, you have to start one.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

Barbra Streisand held the film rights to Larry Kramer's original play for a decade, but was unable to get financing for a feature film, and HBO, at the time, was unwilling to meet Kramer's asking price for the screenplay.

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Goofs

When Ned and his friends are trying to collect money for "Gay Cancer" in the park, the 3 quarters one donor throws down are all from the State Quarter Series, which was begun by the US Mint in 1999.

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Quotes

Ned Weeks: [to his brother Ben] I am FURIOUS with you! And every goddamn doctor who made me think I was sick to love a man!

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Dolly Parton/Taylor Kitsch (2014)

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Soundtracks

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Written by Sylvester (as Sylvester James), James Wirrick
Performed by Sylvester
Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

Depressing but essential viewing

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Normal Heart

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films, Plan B Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive material) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1