I finally got to watch the film, The Normal Heart, last night, which premiered on HBO over the weekend. Let me start by saying that when I read about this film being made last summer and saw the list of the cast, I was excited - being fans of majority of the cast. The film was based on the play (same name, The Normal Heart), written by Larry Kramer, which he had written in the mid-80s due to his frustration with the lack of help from the community, the city, the state, the country, etc., on this disease.
The cast was truly amazing... but for me, the standout, the true heroes of this film, were Mark Ruffalo and Taylor Kitsch. Wow, wow, wow! I was fans before, but amazing job on their performance. The scenes with Ruffalo and Alfred Molina, portraying his older brother, both intense, real conversations. The scenes with Kitsch and Ruffalo's characters were one of my favorite points in the film. Towards the end, I was waiting to see the update of these two, and then realized, what I already knew - these characters weren't real, the situations could possibly be based on friends of Larry Kramer in reality, but the individuals themselves weren't real. There was no follow-up on what happened, did they survive and live long healthy lives? They could still be alive today? Did they also get this disease, HIV/AIDS? But unfortunately, we will never know. I know I have my hopes and thoughts on where they are today.
Julia Roberts did a wonderful job in portraying a caring doctor, wheelchair bound from having polio as a child. As her character said, 'she wasn't supposed to be alive' or 'no one gets polio anymore'. Reminding us all that there can be a cure for this disease one day. One Day. There is a scene towards the end of the film - I don't want to spoil it for anyone, and second scene from earlier in the film, that really stood out and if she does get any nominations, those two scenes would be it. Also, there was a scene, where I wish I could ask the director, Ryan Murphy, did Roberts character have feelings, maybe a possible crush on one of the other characters??
I also enjoyed the way the film, felt, looked like it was done in the 70s/80s... very gray, the colors were not bright, very dim. Even scenes, where Ruffalo's character was on TV, I would notice the little subtle yellow as old film does look. It was well done for sure.
I hope you all get a chance to watch this film - definitely a powerful film and performance. I hope the entire cast gets recognized for their class act.
