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

Gil_Rinion Normal is a good movie that tastefully handles the difficult topic of people who go through sex changes. Given the taboo nature of the topic in film I was surprised to find that Normal does a good job of representing the real life problems and trials that people who go through sex changes experience. It also does a good job of showing how it affects the families too. In addition, Normal changes and shows a different type of love story. one rarely seen in films. The relationship between Roy and his wife is dealt with very well and the actors do an excellent job of representing their situations. The films soundtrack and cinematography are also very good. They seamlessly flow through the film however they add but never distracts from the plot or action taking place on screen. The acting is superb in the film and Wilkinson does an amazing job at capturing the feeling of the role. Overall I feel the film is very interesting and covers a difficult topic very well. It's not the type of movie I usually watch but I did enjoy it none the less. If you like more serious dramatic pieces I believe you would enjoy this film.

tuc71836 The storyline of Normal is innovative, and it is certainly a good film. The acting is fantastic, so I could enjoy watching the film. I think this film is different from other genre's film since acting is vivid and the storyline is unique. Although the issue in the film is a little heavy, some of the scenes in the film use a lighter way to portray it. The way of how Ruth tells his co-worker that he is going do the sex operation is amusing; therefore, mood of the film is consider not too heavy. Also, the make- up and costumes of Ruth is very natural for me. Ruth might be considering as transvestite before doing the sex-change operation; however, Ruth's make- up and costume is not too exaggerated. As a result, the film deserved the Emmy Award (Make Up). In my opinion, the theme of the film is love, and people can overcome many difficult situations by the power of love. Also, family stands an extremely important influence in everyone's life. Irma's love and support for Ruth illustrates love can actually overcome the difficulties in your life. I think this film is appealing to everyone since the mood in the film is light.

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.