http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/r ... 2014-71471

I'm looking forward to it. Too bad it's not going to be a theatrical release like originally intended.

Not a bad idea to make it an HBO movie. It'll score a boatload of Emmy nods now.

That's true.

This play was beautiful.

Sooo this means the third season of AHS will be half assed i see

Will this be released theatrically in any countries?

Reviews are outstanding: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_normal_heart/

It's so dumb this wasn't a theatrical release.




Who is watching?

I am going to be such a fucking mess tonight.

I'm watching!

This is fantastic so far. Mark Ruffalo is amazing in particular.

Joe Mantello's big scene made me bawl.

What an astoundingly beautiful film. As someone who was incredibly moved by the 2011 revival on Broadway, I couldn't be more pleased to say that Ryan Murphy got everything right with this film. It's by no stretch of the imagination an easy film to stomach but the viewing is essential. The cast here puts every emotion on the line and it pays off. Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Julia Roberts, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello and Taylor Kitsch give emotionally raw performances here and I am more than positive they (and the film) will be rewarded. The Normal Heart is first and foremost a love story about two men and what a story they have to say. Just pure beauty. Do not miss this film.

A

Ryan Murphy is basically the devil but I have to give him props. That made me feel like I got hit by a truck, mostly.

Matt Bomer

The whole cast was fantastic, though. Julia Roberts getting all wheelchair sassy!

Every performance in this was fucking amazing. They are going to sweep the Emmys. Some career-best work from Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and Joe Mantello.

This was so sensational. If it was in theaters it would have been in my top ten of the year easily. I thought it was a better film than Brokeback Mountain and Dallas Buyers Club in terms of how it affected me emotionally. So many scenes made me cry and by the end I was bawling. Ryan Murphy's direction was so great and the entire thing was so riveting, and the performances were just out of this world sensational. Basically just give Mark Ruffalo the Emmy now - what a powerhouse performance. Julia Roberts, Joe Mantello, Jim Parsons and Matt Bomer also deserve nominations/wins. There really wasn't a weak link in the entire cast - everyone was sensational. It's truly horrifying to think this all actually happened. It's not an easy watch but it's actually a movie I could see changing both opinions and hearts - it's incredibly powerful.

It's a shame that this wasn't released theatrically.

Anybody know what this scored in the ratings? Hoping for a hit.

It got 1 Million viewers for the initial telecast and then 1.4 Million total for the night. It's the fifth highest-rated HBO film ever.

MATT BOMER

I largely enjoyed it, but also found it flawed. It benefits a great deal from the inherent fascination of its subject: the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the conflicts it created at the time as the number of the ailing and the dead multiplied at a frightful pace. This is a rich subject, one hard to resist due to its power to infuriate, indict, move, probe, etc. I must say, though: I found it hard to deeply invest in the characters. Each has is such an instrument, defined by a crystal-clear and circumscribed purpose, and scenes often consist of them shouting political and social codes and dispatches at one another rather than truly conversing. (Emphasis on "shouting." This film is definitely heavy on the type of plate-smashing, I-stand-up-for-justice shouting matches associated with giving of acting awards.) I am certain this dialogue, particularly protagonist Ned's enunciated manifestos, sounded fresher and more powerful when the play debuted in 1985, but other films, novels, etc. have dealt with this disease and its impact in more complicated and rewarding ways in the three intervening decades. The actors acquit themselves well, and people will say Ruffalo is courageous for playing a gay man and Roberts is a revelation in her wheelchair, etc., etc., but I was not awed by any individual performance here.

I found the portrayal of the people hesitant to recognize the epidemic or scared to, say, share an airplane with an AIDS patient fairly one-note, which is a bit of a shame. The film might be more profound, more electrifying, if it were interested in the shades of their paranoia and their prejudice. Milk, for instance, would not be as great a film if Josh Brolin's scenes were cut.