The Normal Heart (2014)
84%RT Audience Score: 71%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Thanks to Emmy-worthy performances from a reputable cast, The Normal Heart is not only a powerful, heartbreaking drama, but also a vital document of events leading up to and through the early AIDS crisis
The Normal Heart is a film that will make you feel all the feels. It’s got heart, guts, and a whole lot of anger and suffering. But don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are some bravura scenes that are worth the price of admission, and Matt Bomer’s physical transformation is both astonishing and agonizing. Plus, HBO knows how to produce a compelling biographical movie, so you know you’re in good hands. Larry Kramer’s cri de coeur about the early days of the AIDS plague gets a solidly respectful but flawed treatment from Ryan Murphy, but it’s still an impressive, relevant, and moving ensemble drama that I can’t recommend enough. So grab some tissues and get ready to feel all the feels.
Production Company(ies)
K&SFilms, El Deseo Televisión Federal
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-MA
Year of Release
2014
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.78 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 26, 2014
Genre(s)
Drama/Lgbtq+
Keyword(s)
starring Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Julia Roberts, Alfred Molina, directed by Ryan Murphy, written by Larry Kramer, drama, LGBTQ+, AIDS crisis, Emmy-worthy performances, powerful, heartbreaking, vital document, government, gay community, TVMA, Scott Ferguson, English, Aug 26 2014, 2h 15m, critic reviews, audience score, rent/buy, subscription, Eric Sasson, Matt Zoller Seitz, Melissa Anderson, Rick Nelson, Mary McNamara, Maureen Ryan, Jessica Johnson, Jac Kern, Chris Barsanti, Bill Gibron, Richard Knight, Felix Vasquez Jr., horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV premiere dates, worst horror movies, box office performance, budget, reviewed by
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Matt Bomer – Felix Turner
Taylor Kitsch – Bruce Niles
Jim Parsons – Tommy Boatwright
Julia Roberts – Dr. Emma Brookner
Alfred Molina – Ben Weeks
Director(s)
Ryan Murphy
Writer(s)
Larry Kramer
Producer(s)
Scott Ferguson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (3)
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.
May 29, 2014
Eric Sasson
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
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.
May 29, 2014
Matt Zoller Seitz
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
Despite its flaws, this iteration of The Normal Heart also exhorts us to remember.
May 29, 2014
Melissa Anderson
Artforum
TOP CRITIC
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.
May 28, 2014
Rick Nelson
Minneapolis Star Tribune
TOP CRITIC
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.
May 28, 2014
Mary McNamara
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
If you can get past the director’s tics and tricks, there are some bravura scenes from Mantello, Roberts and Ruffalo that are worth the price of admission.
May 27, 2014
Maureen Ryan
Huffington Post
TOP CRITIC
While there are kinks in Murphy’s adaptation, the raw power of Kramer’s story cannot be diluted. It’s a powerful memorial to the men that lost their lives and those they loved while fighting bring the AIDS epidemic to light.
July 2, 2018
Jessica Johnson
Time Out Chicago
HBO knows how to produce a compelling biographical movie…
September 13, 2017
Jac Kern
Cincinnati CityBeat
Larry Kramer’s blistering cri de coeur about the early days of the AIDS plague gets a solidly respectful but flawed treatment from Ryan Murphy.
September 3, 2014 | Rating: 6/10
Chris Barsanti
PopMatters
proves that, sometimes, art does a better job of understanding history than the actual record
August 25, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/5
Bill Gibron
Film Racket
The collaboration between Murphy and Kramer seemed like a natural from the moment it was announced, and now we have the proof of that sensible decision — in all its incendiary, heart-wrenching magnificence.
June 28, 2014
Richard Knight
Windy City Times
It’s an impressive, relevant, and moving ensemble drama that I can’t recommend enough.
May 31, 2014
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Matt Bomer’s performance as a New York Times style reporter looking for love in a loveless city is described as “heartbreaking” and his physical transformation is called “astonishing and agonizing.”
Ryan-Murphy.jpg
