A damn PERFECT performance

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2019)

Matthew McConaughey's work in this film is sensational.
The first time I saw this, the cynic that I tend to be, I was waiting for the "other shoe to drop"...i.e. a wasted scene or bit of dialogue, but it never came. Every moment of MM's portrayal of Ron matters. A lot has been said of the physical measures that both MM and Jared Leto (who is also brilliant) took to become these characters. As impressive as that is, the emotional aspect and genuine investment elevates these performances to new heights.
This story is heart wrenching and the screenplay is so fantastic in vividly capturing a difficult subject and conflict.
It isn't a perfect film holistically...there are parts of character development (albeit very few) that seem a bit rushed. The main antagonist is pretty generic. However, in the shadow of the main characters, it simply doesn't matter and does not warrant less than a score of 10 in my book.