The Normal Heart

Mark Ruffalo gives a heart-rending performance as a gay rights activist attempting to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. His story, drawing inevitable comparisons with Angels in America (2003), offers a much more straightforward document that vividly captures a moment in history at the beginning of the epidemic. Director Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee) occasionally has difficulty converting the style of the original play to the screen (even though writer Larry Kramer was brought on to adapt his own work) but his passion for the subject is evident. A star cast that includes Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons and Julia Roberts all make a big impression, although none quite match Ruffalo. There's a desperation to the actor's performance that encapsulates this often heartbreaking story of a people as much under attack by the outside world as they are by any virus.