Matt Bomer, Ryan Murphy, Mark Ruffalo On "The Normal Heart" Red CarpetNewNowNext

HBO’s new movie The Normal Heart is based on a quasi-autobiographical play by Larry Kramer about the early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York. The most breathtaking achievement of that play is its timing—it was produced in 1985 and covered the first half of the decade, before doctors had much idea what they were dealing with.

Directed by Ryan Murphy , creator of “Glee” and “American Horror Story,” “The Normal Heart” is the long-anticipated movie adaptation of Larry Kramer’s blistering, groundbreaking play about the onset of the AIDS crisis, which first premiered in 1985 at the Public theater. The play was revived on Broadway three years ago, garnering several Tony nominations as well as wins for actors Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey The movie will air May 25 on HBO.

I’m sure The Normal Heart will shock a lot of mainstream sensibilities, and even some disdainful gays who think it both negatively portrays gay stereotypes and glamorizes anonymous sex. But you can’t have it both ways — you can’t complain about its authenticity and chastise it for being too accurate. But HBO made the formula work one year ago, with its equally shocking biopic about Liberace, Behind the Candelabra , and it won every award in the book. There’s no reason to think lightning won’t strike twice.

Murphy's The Normal Heart is regularly weepy and melodramatic, with broad performances from everyone involved (Julia Roberts plays Dr. Emma Brookner like she has placed an actual stick up her ass for the sake of method acting). Its declarative one-liners are so pat they often sound action-movie corny ("We have to do something. No one else will."). The movie is essentially a Cliff's Notes of the plague years, and the generality is so palpable it's practically an aesthetic.

Matt Bomer, Ryan Murphy, Mark Ruffalo On "The Normal Heart" Red CarpetNewNowNext 2014-06-01T02:57:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown