{"id":786,"date":"2014-12-01T13:33:19","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T18:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=786"},"modified":"2026-10-12T14:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T18:33:43","slug":"the-normal-heart-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=786","title":{"rendered":"The Normal Heart-2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Normal Heart-2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Ryan Murphy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #198<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"70302186\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed December 1, 2014<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Normal Heart is a 2014 HBO television movie based on the true story of Ned Weeks, an openly gay AIDS activist\/writer, played by Mark Ruffalo.<\/p>\n

The film is set during the period when the epidemic first surfaced, from 1981-1984, and the challenges and frustrations faced, mostly within the gay community, to bring exposure and assistance to the disease.<\/p>\n

Weeks was famous for building a group of passionate members who banded together to overcome these struggles.<\/p>\n

Brad Pitt produced the film.<\/p>\n

This is wonderful to know, as films with this content (AIDS) are often tough to produce. It’s wonderful that Pitt’s wealth and influence were used effectively.<\/p>\n

At a vastly different time in the country to be gay, the government did very little to assist with financing for treatment or researching a cure for it, which is the main point of the story.<\/p>\n

The talented cast makes this film what it is.<\/p>\n

Matt Bomer plays Ned’s closeted gay lover, Felix Turner, one of the many casualties of the deadly disease. Bomer lost 40 pounds to prepare for the role.<\/p>\n

Julia Roberts plays polio-stricken doctor Emma Brookner, who helped the sick when few others in the medical community would.<\/p>\n

Other supporting actors include Alfred Molina, who plays Ned’s supportive, powerful attorney and brother, and Joe Mantello, who delivers a terrific meltdown scene as his anger and anguish over the government not taking the disease seriously finally bubble to the surface.<\/p>\n

Finally, Mark Ruffalo plays Ned competently, but why the slight feminization? The real Ned Weeks was masculine. A needless stereotype the film (or Ruffalo) chose to pursue.<\/p>\n

The film shows the discrimination faced by people living with AIDS, from an airline pilot refusing to fly a plane carrying a sick patient, to an electrician refusing to enter a patient’s hospital room to fix a television set.<\/p>\n

It is sad to realize how ridiculous these unfounded fears proved to be.<\/p>\n

According to the film’s statistics, a major point of the film is how the United States Government, specifically President Ronald Reagan, did very little in the way of funding or even wanting to discuss the issue for years following the initial outbreak, resulting in thousands of lost lives.<\/p>\n

And why exactly is Reagan considered a great President?<\/p>\n

It makes one ponder. It was only due to beloved Hollywood star Rock Hudson contracting and dying from the disease. Elizabeth Taylor used her star power to get people involved, which finally led to the topic being discussed and action taken on a federal level.<\/p>\n

My slight criticism of the film is that it looks and feels like a television movie, similar in texture to HBO’s Behind the Candelabra (2013).<\/p>\n

The colors are bright and vivid, and it looks television-like. It could have used darker lighting and perhaps a gloomier, more dour feel, especially given the subject matter.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, thumbs up, and respect for bringing this story to millions of viewers and hopefully educating those who weren’t there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Normal Heart-2014 Director Ryan Murphy Starring Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer Scott’s Review #198 Reviewed December 1, 2014 Grade: B+ The Normal Heart is a 2014 HBO television movie based on the true story of Ned Weeks, an openly gay AIDS activist\/writer, played by Mark Ruffalo. The film is set during the period when the … Continue reading The Normal Heart-2014<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,192,191,339,122,11823],"tags":[1997,5502,1533,3090,2470,4597,964,4815,2933,1788,2568,2309,4813,4814],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-films","category-dramas","category-hbo-films","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-social-issues","tag-alfred-molina","tag-bd-wong","tag-brad-pitt","tag-corey-stoll","tag-denis-ohare","tag-finn-wittrock","tag-jim-parsons","tag-joe-mantello","tag-jonathan-groff","tag-julia-roberts","tag-mark-ruffalo","tag-matt-bomer","tag-ryan-murphy","tag-taylor-kitsch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24778,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions\/24778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}