True Story of AIDS Battle

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2013)

I saw "Dallas Buyers Club", starring Matthew McConaughey-Magic Mike, Tropic Thunder; Jennifer Garner-Juno, Dude,Where's My Car?; Jared Leto- Lord of War, Fight Club and Steve Zahn-A Perfect Getaway, Sahara.
This is based on a true story, concerning the AIDS crisis. Matthew plays an electrician/part time rodeo bull rider in the 1980's. He gets some unsettling news after a routine doctor visit; he has AIDS and only about 30 days left to live. After the usual denials-he thought only gay people got it-and the emotions that most people go through after such a diagnosis, Matthew reads everything he can find on the subject and decides to use other forms of medications. They are not illegal drugs, they are just not approved by the US FDA. He has to travel to other countries-Mexico, Japan-to bring the unapproved drugs back and gets around the legal aspects by starting the Dallas Buyers Club-anyone can join for a fee and all the drugs are free. Jennifer plays a doctor that believes in what he is doing. Jared is a gay transdresser-he has not had the surgery but does prefer to dress like a woman-that befriends Matthew and becomes a business partner. Steve plays an old childhood friend of Matthew's, who is now a policeman. I read that Matthew lost 38 pounds for the role. It's rated "R" for language, sexual content-including nudity-and drug use and has a running time of 1 hour & 57 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD but it would be alright, as a rental.