Am I the only one who thinks Mark Ruffalo was great?

I agree, I thought he was great.

When I first heard Ruffalo was going to play this role, I'll admit I was puzzled and a little apprehensive since I've mostly associated him with nice-guy roles and slightly retro "strong but sensitive" leading men. While those types, as far as I can tell, seem not too far off from his real-life personality, I've nevertheless always enjoyed watching him -- not least for the way he has made such roles widely appealing to a moviegoing public otherwise more accustomed to a steady diet of macho-man crap and perpetual adolescents, with not much in between.

But even so -- Ned Weeks, furiously-articulate bossypants extraordinaire-?

I was cautiously hopeful for Ruffalo to pull it off, but it did seem as though this role might be a real stretch for him.

Happily, he has indeed pulled it off. I believe him here as a reluctant but passionate crusader, a difficult loudmouth (calculatedly so at times, recklessly so at others), a prickly romantic, a gay man with a vexed and ambivalent relationship to his own "community" -- and in these and other ways, a startlingly plausible proxy for Kramer himself. Mostly (and best-ly) I believe him as a thornily real person, not an airbrushed icon, beset almost as much by his own flaws and contradictions as by the impossibly brutal historical circumstances in which he found himself.

Having earlier resigned myself to the belief that almost nobody could top Joe Mantello's 2011 Broadway performance as Ned, I'm genuinely surprised to find that when I go back to some of the YouTube clips of that production, there are moments where Ruffalo's Ned now "wins," for me, if I had to choose between the two. (On principle, I'm usually dead-set against that kind of thumbs-up/down judgement or comparison: overall, I honestly thought both actors gave wrenching and unforgettable performances in this role. But speaking of Mantello, his own astonishing turn as Mickey in the movie now likewise has me unable to imagine anyone else handling that role so persuasively).

It's a brilliant screen adaptation of a brilliant play, and Ruffalo's work is stunning. As is everyone else's, with no exceptions that I can think of offhand -- really beautiful work all around.

I thought it was a beautiful performance. I even left a note on his Facebook page telling him so.

https://www.facebook.com/MarkRuffalo

I'm with all of you. I bought him hook line and sinker. I thought he did a fantastic job and frankly couldn't be more pleased with how the casting turned out across the board. This one goes into my favorites list because as riveting as the script is, you need the right actors to bring it to life. And for me these ones did that beautifully.

You are definitely not the only one. Most of the reviews (like 8 out of 10) I've read (both by critics and "non professional" viewers) are very positive. Even the ones with criticism have some good things to say too. And I've read a LOT. So I was surprised that that two threads had been opened here, saying how much he sucked. But we all have different opinions.:) I've already told mine in another thread.

I'm with you, OP. I thought he did a stellar job.

I thought he was incredible as well!

Mark Ruffalo was great. Anyone who has seen Larry talk would know that Mark did a fantastic job. I hope he gets awards for this. There is a reason both Barbra Streisand and Ryan Murphy wanted him for the role. Because he did a good job. And Larry also wanted him for the role.

Oh, of course, he was terrific.

He should be nominated for an Emmy.

I thought he should have been nominated for an Oscar for You Can Count On Me.