Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Claudio Carvalho In the countryside of the United States of America, Irma Applewood (Jessica Lange) and her husband Roy Applewood (Tom Wilkinson) have been happily married for twenty-five years and they are model citizens in their community. Roy brings Irma to meet Reverend Dale Muncie (Randall Arney), who is their pastor and friend, to tell that he is a woman trapped in a man's body and he will be submitted to a sex-change operation. Now Roy has to face the deception of his wife and the intolerance of his colleagues, members of his church and his son Wayne (Joe Sikora). But Irma loves him and after the impact of the news, she understands and supports him with their teenage daughter Patty Ann (Hayden Panettiere) and Roy's boss Frank (Clancy Brown) that is their friend. "Normal" is a great HBO movie with an ironic title about the life of a middle-aged couple married with children in a small town that is affected by the decision of the husband of changing his sex. The screenplay, direction and performances are top-notch, with Jessica Lange still very beautiful for a fifty-four year-old woman and awesome and courageous performance of Tom Wilkinson. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available

tuc35043 This film depicts the story of a man who struggles to have sex reassignment surgery in his fifties. Despite his wife and family's opposition, he is determined to have his sex change. He confesses that since he was young, he felt like he was born in the wrong body and he thinks he is a woman. The story is simple, but in a way not very realistic. It seems too sudden for Roy to become so eager to live the rest of his life as a woman, despite the 25-years of marriage and 50+ years of hiding. Personally, I think the story will be more realistic if scenes of his past history of eagerness and struggles to be a woman are shown.Yet, acting is fantastic, especially for Irma, which compensates for the weakness of the story. She cannot accept the fact in the beginning when she just finds out that her husband wants to have SRS. She accepts gradually and even supports him, to me, it is a very considerate act. Audiences properly burst into tears for the immeasurable love the couple has for each other. The ending is vaguely presented, and the consequence after the surgery is absent. I think this is done on purpose so the story leaves a question to the audience which is " What result do you think the couple deserve?" It is not the best ending, but may be the most decent one.In general, the film is a good one. Bottomless love is strongly emphasized and the acting makes the film works, despite of the not very realistic story.

macktan894 I recently re-watched this film after having first seen it several years ago, and I love it even more. Although it's not representative of how a real-life transsexual situation in a marriage might go, the film delves honestly into the issues and delivers an entertaining movie, too. Tom Wilkinson, plays Roy, a very middle aged bear of a man who finally works up the nerve to put himself right and admit that he's actually a woman born in the wrong body. The first time he says that, you laugh, as you are supposed to. Are you kidding me? Roy looks as much like a woman as a desk does. But he's determined, perhaps helped by modern times and science that has proved cases of "gender dysphoria." Problem is that Roy lives in a small town populated by people who don't subscribe to any such thing. In reality, Roy's story would have probably ended in the barn during his father's birthday party. Or he would have had to leave town altogether and go to Chicago. But this is a movie and Jane Alexander, the director, keeps the setting true and mines it for all the conflict and entertainment value possible. Jessica Lange gives a beautiful performance as Roy's wife, who grieves over losing her husband but ultimately reconciles Roy with Ruth by realizing they are the same person, physical container aside.

moonspinner55 Exceptional cable-movie with a serious, touchy subject not treated with the requisite hand-wringing or soap-box speeches; a film about a family man's gradual move towards having a sex-change which is prickly and prodding instead of melancholy. Jane Anderson adapted her own play and directed this lovely, touching story of a farm equipment factory worker living in middle America, a husband and the father of two, who breaks a lifetime of agonizing silence and finally tells his wife he feels he was born in the wrong body. Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange approach their early scenes a bit too anxiously (and the film's tone wavers in a sea of question marks), but Anderson is not interested in stunts or gimmicks, and it quickly becomes apparent that everyone's heart is in this. Hayden Panettiere is terrific as the couple's pubescent daughter, however most of the scenes with Joe Sikora as their rough-hewn son fail to come off (Sikora's half-comic dialogue doesn't help). Fortunately, Wilkinson and Lange bloom in and conform to their roles, and by the final act we are hanging onto their every word. Anderson judges their scenes very shrewdly, and her sense of humor is welcomed even if it takes about 30 minutes for the viewer to catch up to her rhythm. Blessedly free of big "issues", this is a family drama that stands apart not for being a hysterical document, but for being a human story of self-respect and respect for others. Marvelous.