Great performances highlight a good film....

Rating: 7/10 (31 January 2014)

The accolades heaped upon Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto are well deserved, and this film is definitely one of the best I've seen in 2014. However, it is what I consider a weak year in the Best Picture category.
There are times when this film feels gritty and real enough to come off the screen, but there are also times the film comes across as a Lifetime television melodrama. The story tended to lose me when the "big bad drug companies" and the "evil FDA" were shown to practically dance on the graves of AIDs victims while lining their pockets and protecting their positions in the war to find a treatment. Just a little bit of humanity in the doctors and FDA officials would have gone a long way and added a bit of complexity to the story that was painted as all too black and white. It is harder to believe people do purely evil things knowingly, than to believe people simply do the wrongs things with the best of intentions.
That being said, there is plenty good to find here. The story is crisp and efficient, and the characters are all well rounded, believable, and compelling.
Recommended as one of the top three films of the year, IMHO.