MovieChat Forums > The Normal Heart (2014) Discussion > Terrific acting in a cliche plot we have...

Terrific acting in a cliche plot we have seen many, MANY time before

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

Like I said, good acting but the plot is nothing brand new. Just a recycled hash of better films about 80s homosexuality battling AIDS.

Personally, I think Philadelphia and Angels in America were better at illustrating this story.

[–] aaahmemories 10 years ago

Erm...you do realize this is based on a play written a decade BEFORE Philadelphia and Angels in America, yes?

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Religion is like a rocking chair -- a lot of work to get nowhere.

[–] tdaugherty2005 10 years ago

Yeah but they came to cinema before this.

[–] aaahmemories 10 years ago

they came to cinema before this

Irrelevant. Normal Heart is a historical document which forged the territory those later works exploited. If you can't distinguish historical from popular trends, you really don't have any critical credibility.

Religion is like a rocking chair -- a lot of work to get nowhere.

[–] Katiedidd 10 years ago

Exactly. And "Philadelphia" is actually the movie that has great acting but is so cliche. I prefer "Longtime Companion" to TNH, but TNH isn't trying to be LC, so I don't even like to truly compare the two.

[–] aaahmemories 10 years ago

I prefer "Longtime Companion" to TNH

I certainly do love LC, though I think comparing them is sort of apples and oranges, don't you? There's no activism whatever in LC. It's really just a series of interwoven stories about how people deal with the epidemic on a personal level which includes no politics, or at least not any organized sense. TNH is really structured around Ned's angry reaction to the AIDS crisis and his efforts to meet it politically. Well, as Kramer admits, it's very much an autobiographical piece.

BTW, it's interesting how completely forgotten is another early gem of early AIDS-related cinema, a movie from 1986 called Parting Glances (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091725/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_129). It's essentially Steve Buscemi's first movie and, while it's quite rough in a lot of places -- very indie -- I liked it very much. Much heart, plenty of wit, and mostly excellent performances.

Religion is like a rocking chair -- a lot of work to get nowhere.

[–] Katiedidd 10 years ago

certainly do love LC, though I think comparing them is sort of apples and oranges, don't you?

Absolutely. That's why I added TNH wasn't trying to be LC so I would not compare. I was hoping the OP would understand personal taste has nothing to do with actually comparing films with similar subjec matter. (I'd actually argue vaguely similar, at that, because besides the each discussing HIV/AIDS, none are really comparable as they're all so different.) Combine that with your post that reveals TNH was actually written long before the OP's comparisons, and it is clear it isn't really fair to compare and contrast these movies at such a basic level.

I love "Parting Glances"! It is thanks to this message board that I finally watched it last spring when it was discussed on here. From this board, I also learned of and also watched a heart-wrenching documentary, "Sliverlake Life: The View From Up Here" as well. (I was born in 1983, so the early epidemic did not touch me personally, but I have sought out many films that address the "first decade," so to say. I wish I could watch "An Early Frost," but I have not found it online.)

[–] puirt-a-beul 10 years ago

Like I said, good acting but the plot is nothing brand new. Just a recycled hash of better films about 80s homosexuality battling AIDS.

Speaking of cliché, are you just going to post the same idea over and over until you get the agreement you're looking for?

(Oh, and it's clichéd, by the way, the word you're looking for. "Cliché" is a noun; the adjective, as in "clichéd plot", is clichéd.)

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.