Review of The Normal Heart (2014) by Jacky C — 27 May 2014

Powerful, bleak and frighteningly affective, The Normal Heart is excellent fiction that takes on a very real issue. Dealing with the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in New York city during the early 80's, we as an audience are shown the story from the perspective of the gay community.

We see things unfold through the eyes of a small group of gay rights activists, as director Ryan Murphy does a spectacular job taking us through the fear, the anger and the struggle that they face. What separates The Normal Heart from other films on the subject is that there is little hope seen throughout this story.

Instead, the audience is given a heartbreaking look at the gravity of the disease, and the acceptance of its finality. Mark Ruffalo leads a standout cast, and I really do mean that he leads. There were a number of times I sat in awe watching him deliver incredible monologues, wondering why he doesn't get more recognition as the great talent that he is.

There are moments where the script does feel a little heavy-handed, but they are far and few between, outweighed by the many extraordinary moments this movie has to offer. Just because it didn't hit theatres doesn't mean it isn't worth your time; in fact, The Normal heart deserves it.