BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
This movie was great. It’s a biopic, but it’s not a well known story so it’s not a movie you know the beats of already. Matthew McConaughey plays a dude who gets AIDS in the 80s. At the time it was mainly associated with homosexuals. This stigma is one he has to confront from his redneck buddies and in himself when he meets and befriends a transgender woman played by Jared Leto. He ends up sticking to his stern ways, but refocusing it into taking care of people who are dying from AIDS. To explain anymore would be to giving away the ride of this experience. The performances are outstanding. Matthew McConaughey rocked it and made a great lead in this role. He put in the elbow grease and I think it’ll go down as one of his pinnacle performances. That said, Jared Leto steals the show. His “Rayon” is a beautiful character and is done to perfection. Leto goes the extra distance to bring the heart and genuine attitude out there for this person. You don’t feel sorry for them, but you feel. They bring the fight and you can’t help but cheer them on and stay strong. You share in their empowerment. That’s an emotion that’s really fucking hard to nail down. The hype for this movie is legit but I fear there is a trap that really serious dramas go through. People are quick to blow off movies like this once the award season passes. It becomes a flavor of the month and people love it for all it’s worth for a few months. Then it’s brushed to the side and only shown on IFC or other “artsy aimed” outlets. It’s not a “happy movie”. It’s a sad movie that pulls at your emotions and paints a grim picture. The performances are outstanding, but the long term rewatchablity is in question. How often will someone say, “Hey! Let’s watch that movie where Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto get AIDs and lose all that weight!”. That sucks, but it’s true. But at the same time, this is a movie that you’ll watch again in five years and then proceed to spend a week reminding friends how good of a movie it was. That’s the thing, it wasn’t a good movie. It IS a good movie. Such a good movie that I really hope it doesn’t fade into “serious drama obscurity”. Don’t let it! Watch it, watch it now! We, as a viewing public, owe it to ourselves. A-
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