I'm pretty tough on Ryan Murphy sometimes here on this site, mainly because I think he's vastly overrated. Great with TV(Glee, Nip/Tuck), terrible with movies(Running with Scissors, Eat Pray Love). But there's no doubt the guy knows how to put together a talented cast of folks, and he always aims high in terms of the ideas he's trying to present. He deserves credit for that, even if his movies tend to be misfires.
His next project looks to be the biggest yet. He'll be tackling an adaptation of The Normal Heart, the fiery semi-autobiographical stageplay by Larry Kramer, set in the 1980s amidst the HIV/AIDS crisis as it ravaged the New York gay community. Produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B, we've known that Mark Ruffalo was attached to the lead role of gay writer/activist Ned Weeks, head of an HIV advocacy group. Now THR reports that Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin, Jim Parsons, and Matt Bomer have joined the cast. If this wasn't looking like a potential Oscar contender before, it certainly does now.
The story follows Ned as he angrily tries to draw attention to the epidemic, then known as "gay cancer", at a time when the world was largely ignoring the disease. Roberts will play Emma Brookner, a wheelchair bound doctor who is one of the few taking AIDS seriously. Baldwin will play Ben, Ned's homophobic brother. Bomer is Felix Turner, a gay fashion journalist who becomes Ned's boyfriend. Parsons, who actually acted in the stage version, will reprise his role as a southern gay activist and part of a gay man's health crisis group.
Baldwin, Bomer, and Parsons all have TV shows to worry about, so I assume this will shoot when all three are in hiatus. That means we could be looking at this as a definite awards contender in the near future. Here's hoping Murphy doesn't put such a great story to waste.
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