Ryan Murphy’s The Normal Heart isn’t without fault-there are numerous and wide ranging flaws-but throughout the rubble and the chaotic directing styles there are phenomenal performances to behold as well as a story that is as deftly written as it is gut wrenching.
With a subject as startlingly upsetting as AIDS you need a narrative that will refuse to sugarcoat the details but will also allow moments of love, moments of warmth and moments of human connection to peak through. Larry Kramer the writer of the play that the film is based on had a prominent voice and it was angry and not everyone agreed with it. Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) similarly is angry and loud; he’s opinionated to a fault and often does more damage than not but there’s some admirable about seeing a character so indebted to what pisses him off. The audience isn’t watching ignorant to the fact that Ned isn’t a great person and that’s what makes him interesting because so often in films about activism and movements we are painted a picture of a saintly protagonist who does no wrong but is wronged by everyone else. Activism and fighting for basic human rights isn’t taught by a pamphlet and there is no art to it. Activism is begun by voices, voices that are begging, kicking and screaming to be heard and then by the people who are compassionate enough to listen. Ned isn’t perfect and he’s kind of an asshole, but man there is something human in that.
The story about how a gay activist group attempts to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS awareness in the early 1980’s the story was also going to carry some emotional weight. It’s a powerful story with haunting images as we watch a retelling of how a generation of young men on the cusp of liberation were violently forced into a frenzied panic. We witness the destruction of innocence and the deconstruction of hope and the work that the actors put in is phenomenal. Ruffal0 is an actor who is always doing fantastic work but never seems to receive adequate recognition for it and here he once again is sturdy and reliable as Ned, leading the way for the rest of the talented cast. It would have been very easy to hate Ned because as I mentioned he isn’t particularly likable yet with Ruffalo there is a commanding yet earnest presence. We may not agree with everything Ned is saying, but we believe his conviction and his drive and we understand why he fights.
Actors such as Matt Bomer and Taylor Kitsch deliver career best performances here-Bomer as Ned’s ill lover and Kitsch as Bruce, the closeted head of the organization. Both deliver nuanced performances that are generous-never trying to steal scenes- as well as strong. Both are broken people, Bruce with his insecurities and Felix with his body yet we never doubt their strength. Add in a fantastic Julia Roberts , a surprisingly sweet performance by Jim Parsons as Tommy who gets one of the best scenes and Alfred Molina as Ned’s brother who shares the most emotionally charged scene of the film and you’ve got a number of performers giving there all.
It’s a shame Murphy cannot pull the same performance out of himself as he can his actors because as the actors involve create powerful work Murphy’s vision, or lack there of, meanders. It seems that Murphy, like with most of his projects, forgot at times that the most important part of the film was the story and what it meant to the people it represented. He got lost in the flourishes-in making sure he got a shot from every angle of Jonathan Groff’s character collapsing to the ground, of the bizarre infomercial like cuts when Ned and Felix first hook up. Murphy’s main failure was his refusal to let the story play itself out on it’s own merits and tried to make something more eye catching.
And despite his attempts the best shot of the entire film is the last one as Ned sits alone at Yale at and event for young gay men and women and watches as they dance. He’s mourning-for friends, for lovers for himself but in this instance you get a sense that it’s for a great deal more. He’s mourning the loss of potential and the loss of opportunity. Millions of young men fell under siege of a war they weren’t equipped for. And they fell.
The Normal Heart isn’t perfect and it relies heavily on well thought out performances and a biting script, but it packs a punch.
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7.5/10
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