(May 25, PDI-Entertainment)
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Painfully illustrating the beginning of the AIDS crisis in
the early 1980s, the HBO movie “The Normal Heart” is based on Larry Kramer’s
Tony-winning play. Powerful and nuanced performances vivify the drama, which
revolves around conflicted members of New York City ’s
gay community.
Mark Ruffalo stars as proactive writer Ned Weeks, who
witnesses the sudden rise of what some had dubbed “gay cancer.” Ned and Dr.
Emma Brooker (Julia Roberts), baffled by the mysterious disease, break the news
to gay friends and acquaintances. The response is resounding confusion, with
many of them dismissing the announcement as needless and alarmist.
But far from having cried, “Wolf!” Ned sees the reality of
gay men, many of them promiscuous, succumbing to what would later be called
AIDS. He and a small group of friends and colleagues inform the community via a
newsletter and, eventually, a gay advocacy-volunteer group.
The group has its share of infighting, though, as members
disagree mostly on Ned’s gung-ho tactics. They struggle as well with convincing
the city’s indifferent mayor, who has yet to recognize the onslaught of the
disease.
“The Normal Heart,” directed by Ryan Murphy and written by
Kramer, is based on the latter’s 1981 hosting of a gathering, which eventually
led to the cofounding of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis advocacy group.
The film is a taut, heart-wrenching look at the challenges
faced by the gay community at the time, a period rightly depicted as pivotal
and uncertain. The gay minority is silently being decimated, and it would take
years for the American government to address the issue openly.
An eclectic, aptly chaotic bunch, the characters each react
differently to the destructive pestilence. Ruffalo is surprisingly moving as
the disenfranchised Ned, whose mettle is tested when his close friends and a
lover are affected in varying ways.
Roberts veers away from typically feel-good, thoroughly
bubbly roles for the nonce and plays a polio survivor, moving around on a
wheelchair, seemingly a prophetess of doom, initially. Seriously perplexed, Dr.
Brooker experiences a righteous and inevitable meltdown, which the actress
delivers with corresponding verve.
The ensemble is sublime; the film benefits immensely from
the presence of openly gay actors Matt Bomer (as Ned’s journalist lover) and
Jim Parsons (as a no-nonsense activist). Other gay actors, Jonathan Groff and
BD Wong, have smaller roles.
Taylor Kitsch plays a gay guy adequately; he does okay as
Ned’s dear friend and eventual rival for leadership, but is ultimately less
noticed because of the parade of overwhelming performances.
“You cry and you cry until you think you can’t cry
anymore—and then you cry some more,” Ned says during a realization, practically
describing scene after scene of affecting circumstances. The two-hour movie
does have a nigh-consistent focus on loss—and losing battles.
Apart from the fight for knowledge about the disease, the
film repeatedly presents the ongoing struggles of gay people for acceptance, as
exemplified by Ned’s disagreement with his older brother, solidly played by
Alfred Molina.
“I will not speak to you again until you accept me as your equal,” Ned angrily asserts,
adding, “your healthy equal!”
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