MovieChat Forums > The Normal Heart (2014) Discussion > Recycled story that has been told a thou...

Recycled story that has been told a thousand times before in other films

posted 10 years ago by tdaugherty2005
12 replies | jump to latest

First off, I'm totally supportive of gay rights and an advocate towards fighting HIV, but...

This film's message is nothing bran new. It's practically clichéd. I went into this movie with an open mind but hoping for something I've never seen before.

Halfway in, I could tell where this movie was going. I know because I saw it in better films like Philadelphia, Angels in America, In the Glowing and It's My Party...

Before you think I'm just pissing on this film I want to acknowledge how wonderful the acting is. Ruffalo is never terrible and he saves this film from total oblivion. Jim Parson to me was good but it seemed as if he was placed too far in the back ground and away from the spotlight.

Anyway I understand the man who wrote this has AIDS and I wish him the best but this film felt a little too familiar to me and I think it could've been done better.

[–] OldFriendOfTheChristys 10 years ago

TNH certainly isn't the first film to touch on the AIDS epidemic, but isn't it one of only a few to explore its early days? I'm not saying it is - it's just that, outside of And the Band Played On, I can't name one.

Incidentally, I don't think a subject has to be original in order to be moving or thought-provoking. For what it's worth, TNH moved me more than any other gay-themed film I've seen.

[–] tdaugherty2005 10 years ago

You are right on so many levels. My problem was I was just hoping for something more original with the growing fear we have with AIDS in our society. Dallas Buyers Club was more original to me than this.

[–] angelofvic 10 years ago

.
This wasn't trying to be original. It's a historical fact-based film based on an autobiographical play written in 1984 and serving to document the very early days of the disease which in the beginning didn't have a name or anyone who understood its transmission. The purpose of the play was to document and speak out against all those who resisted publicizing the disease and the known facts about it ... resistance which resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.
.

[–] Doc80 10 years ago

Exactly. It's a movie, just like Dallas Buyers Club, that is based on historical events. It didn't want to deviate too far from the real story.

[–] phyre_Iyz 9 years ago

This is a movie of a play that premiered in 1985, so all those movies based their story lines off this script.

[–] tdaugherty2005 9 years ago

They should've made it into a movie way before all those others because this would've been SO bold and original then.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 9 years ago

What could be new about it? It was describing what when on during the early days of the AIDS scare.
There's been several movies with characters that had cancer. It's still cancer and nothing new. It's about the take on the subject.

The Normal Heart (2014) is a good film.
So are:
An Early Frost (1985)
The Ryan White Story (1989)
Longtime Companion (1989)
Philadelphia (1993)
Dallas Buyer's Club (2013)

Also:
http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000007/thread/252791459?d=252792301#252792301
And:
http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000005/thread/252791514?d=252791684#252791684

[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 9 years ago

What was relatively new in this movie was showing the beginnings of AIDS-related activism. No character in "Angels in America" or "Philadephia" was the same doppelganger for Larry Kramer that Mark Ruffalo clearly was in this movie.

[–] nunyabiznesskay 8 years ago

I understand what you're saying, but the thing is the story would not have to keep being told, if people would get it. Even if you take it out of the context of HIV/AIDS and the new infections every year, and brought it to something like Herpes. I read a few studies that said 90% of sexually active people most likely have Herpes. (HSV-1) A lot of the information I did know, and some I didn't,(and I do a lot of research) and for the newer generations they probably may not have known at all. The story is going to keep being told, and should being told repetitively until the virus is gone, because the Virus can be eliminated, but the people have to do it, and they have to be informed to know.

[–] Thomasina 8 years ago

This film's message is nothing bran new.

Sounds like you disliked it with every fiber of your being. Maybe you are someone who knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff, but maybe you're the kind of regular person who only watches movies about cereal killers.

[–] tdaugherty2005 8 years ago

Apparently you didn't read my full comment. I did acknowledge Ruffalo's performance and so forth. I just thought this was going to be more original and not follow the same paths of other films about people with AIDS.

[–] pepetoony (1752) 6 years ago

I felt the same way. This topic has been covered time and time again in film and I'm not sure yet another one was necessary. It was well made, though...HBO never disappoints.