THE NORMAL HEART [2014]

Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) has a way of shamelessly pandering to a specific audience and spoon-feeding them by the truckloads to match exactly what their generic tastes might be.
The Normal Heart is no different as it is handed to the Academy audience on a silver platter.
Based on Larry Kramer's play of the same name, the film follows the rise of the AIDS crisis in the early '80's within the gay community.  With it's heavy subject matter, we're treated to some pretty great performances that never let a lot of the melodramatic speeches get too out-of-hand.  Murphy's direction isn't as flamboyant as it usually is (with the exception of a few distracting sequences), instead he focuses on the human drama that is actually quite compelling for the better half of the film.
Awards season might have swallowed this like honey but don't let it completely scare you away.

3 Rolodex cards out of 5