The Normal Heart DVD Review by Shale August 30, 2014 This movie adaptation of the Larry Kramer play aired on HBO in May of this year. I don't get cable so I had to wait until it was released on DVD this week. To me it is an updating of the 1993 HBO movie, And The Band Played On, based on the book by Randy Shilts. Like this movie, that docu-drama covered the tragedy of the early years of the AIDS pandemic and the initial denial within the gay male population and the continued inaction of the government health agencies to address this public health crisis. Poster It is the same story told from differing perspective - this one seeming more dramatic than documentary, with characters more fleshed out and shown in their daily lives and struggles. This movie is rated TV-MA which would be rated R to NC-17 in theaters for showing glimpses of frontal male nudity in background shots and the cavorting of gay men on Fire Island. It is actually an autobiografical account of Larry Kramer in the person of Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) a firebrand writer and activist who started the Gay Men's Health Crisis in NYC when this mysterious disease appeared in 1981, killing young gay men with a rare old-man disease, Kaposi's sarcoma. He aligns with no-nonsense Dr. Emma Brookner (Julia Roberts) one of the few to deal with the "gay plague." Dr. Brookner - Often Angry This is the center of the story, following Ned thru his struggles within the gay community of NYC, against the non-responsive government and even his own friends and allies played by Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons and Joe Mantello. It also follows his love affair with Felix (Matt Bomer), a New York Times reporter who eventually contracts the disease. Ned & Felix Become Lovers (There was a one-month delay while Bomer lost 40 pounds to play the sick and wasting Felix) Felix with KS Lesion This is one of those movies that affected me personally. Found myself crying in parts because of the drama and dredging up memories of friends struggling with the disease and dying. I am of that generation who was there and saw first-hand the tragedy; who saw ppl with KS lesions and wasting syndrome, things seldom seen any more since the effective treatment of AIDS has made it a mostly chronic disease and not absolutely fatal as it was before 1996. Also, tho this movie ended around 1984, about the time I became involved with Health Crisis Network in Miami, I still saw the ignorance and unwarranted prejudice toward ppl with the disease. Fact is, watching this movie has prompted me to write of my personal remembrances of my involvement with ppl with AIDS in the 1980s and '90s. Writing is sometimes cathartic for me.
I remember reading about the play: Many gay folks thought Larry Kramer was a bit reactionary and paranoid. But I watched dozens of gay men (including my lover) go to an early grave because of AIDS, so I knew his play was honest and true. My lover passed away in 1992. Back then, AIDS was pretty much a death sentence. I'm glad that's all changed now. I plan on seeing this movie on DVD. I've always liked Julia Roberts, plus I consider Larry Kramer a visionary. Thanks for the insightful review...
