The Normal Heart (HBO)

About The Normal Heart (HBO)

The Normal Heart (2014) is a television drama directed by Ryan Murphy based on Larry Kramer's play of the same name. Set in New York City during the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in the early 1980s, the story revolves around a group of gay men and their allies who fight to expose the truth about the epidemic to a city and nation in denial. It is an unflinching and profoundly moving account of the period.

Making / Production

The film, produced by HBO, was adapted from the 1985 play penned by Larry Kramer, who also wrote the screenplay. The film marked Ryan Murphy’s second partnership with HBO, after the successful series “American Horror Story.” The production sought to convey the fear, anger, and courage of the early days of the AIDS crisis.

Actors

• Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks – Ruffalo gives a passionate performance as the fiery activist fighting for justice amidst a deadly epidemic.
• Matt Bomer as Felix Turner – Bomer portrays a fashionable journalist who becomes Ned’s lover amidst the crisis.
• Jim Parsons as Tommy Boatwright – Parsons reprises his role from the 2011 Broadway revival and brings a touching vulnerability to his portrayal of the Southern, self-described "bachelor."
• Julia Roberts as Dr. Emma Brookner – Roberts is a paraplegic physician determined to expose the truth about AIDS.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• The film is an adaptation of a semi-autobiographical play by Larry Kramer that debuted off-Broadway in 1985, creating waves with its confrontational approach to the AIDS crisis.
• The film debuts on HBO 29 years after the initial play opened.
• Many of the actors, like Jim Parsons and Joe Mantello, participated in the 2011 Broadway revival of the play.

Awards

The film has been recognized for its powerful performances and story, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie in 2014. Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer were also nominated for their performances, and Larry Kramer was nominated for his adapted screenplay.

Quotes

• "Men do not naturally not love. They learn not to." - Ned Weeks
• "I belong to a culture that includes Proust, Henry James, Tchaikovsky, Cole Porter, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Marlowe, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Tennessee Williams, Byron, E.M. Forster, Lorca, Auden, Francis Bacon, James Baldwin, Harry Stack Sullivan, John Maynard Keynes, Dag Hammarskjold." - Ned Weeks

Music, Soundtrack

• "The Only Living Boy in New York" - Simon & Garfunkel
• "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" - The Beach Boys
• "Breakaway" - Irma Thomas