I have never been a fan of Matthew McConaughey as an actor, mostly because the bulk of his filmography is romantic comedies and we know how I feel about those. The past few years have signaled a shift in his priorities, however, and now the phrase "Matthew McConaughey, respected actor" isn't followed by air quotes or derisive laughter. Jared Leto has always been somewhat of a wildcard. He's never been afraid to take on dark roles but he also tours with his band, 30 Seconds to Mars, and hasn't been filming anything in the last few years. Both men undertook some serious weight loss to play their characters, but you never get the feeling that it was purely a gimmick to sell tickets. They brought these people to life.Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) loves three things: rodeo, hard drugs, and pussy. When he is diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live, he is furious. He starts by bribing an orderly at the hospital to get him AZT, which is still undergoing a double-blind trial, but when that source dries up, he heads down to an unlicensed doctor (Griffin Dunne) in Mexico. There he learns that AZT is one of the worst drugs for combating AIDS, but is the only one currently undergoing FDA trials. Ron and the doctor decide to start transporting better, unlicensed drugs across the border for sale, however, Ron's homophobia makes that more difficult than it should be. Enter Rayon (Jared Leto), a sweet-natured drag queen who tempers the edge of his irrational hatred. It starts as a way to make money but soon becomes a Cause.
I didn't expect this to be as mild a movie as it was. Maybe I've seen Rent one too many times, but this just lacked the emotional gut-punch I was prepared for. The things I took away from the film were a) the will to live against the odds is an incredibly powerful force, and b) you can get away with huge lies if you look the part. Ron Woodruff was like the Frank Abagnale, Jr. of AIDS drug smuggling.
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