A great story, well told

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2014)

Something went very right with this movie. The direction, writing and acting all blended perfectly into a rich and interesting film that expertly shows us a 1985 Dallas we never knew. Vallée tells a good story about the lives of people most of us will never meet. Vallée is clearly a director to keep an eye on.
The plot is this: an ordinary Joe (a straight redneck type) gets AIDS, has problems getting properly treated, and stumbles onto alternatives that seem to work better than the drugs being tested on him. Like others, he tries to make money from his discovery by smuggling in some drugs and selling these alternatives outside the pharmaceutical and medical system. He becomes popular. The doctors and FDA get onto his case and do what they can to shut him down. He fights back and becomes a hero.
Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey are astounding. McConaughey's portrayal of Woodruff's desperation and addiction is harrowing. I have to confess to you that I didn't even realize Rayon was being played by Jared Leto until I got home. These fine Oscar-worthy performances rival the ones delivered in American Hustle. When did McConaughey and Leto get so damn good? We used to joke that McConaughey took his shirt off in every movie.
There are many details in this tapestry. You'd have to see it several times to catch it all. The filmmaker has a lot of things to say about fate, class, how we deal with illness, the American medical system, medical ethics, sex and relationships, addiction, homophobia, and so on. At times this is a gritty, uncomfortable movie to watch.
What I also liked about it is that the dialogue and the various scenes rang true.
Woodruff (played by McConaughey) was a great character. A scrappy, difficult lowlife addict who saw an opportunity and had enough wherewithal to take advantage of it. Regardless of whether Woodruff is actually like this, this is the kind of character McConaughey can really sink his teeth into. A redneck rebel loser fighting the system.
McConaughey's irascible Woodruff kept the film from becoming too much of a downer or too melodramatic. The movie is not a tearjerker. It's difficult to feel sorry for someone like Woodruff. Nor would he want you to feel that way. It's a good thing that the movie avoided too much melodrama and pathos, because with this subject matter it could easily have gone down that road.
This movie is worth about 8.5, but I'm going to round it down for a few reasons.
I understand the movie oversells certain points. Was Woodruff actually right, as the movie seems to say? Is AZT that evil? Is Peptide-T that important? Was the FDA as evil as portrayed in the movie? From what I've read, this was not the case. Does anyone today even agree with this movie's point of view about the buyers clubs and AZT? It's a bit too easy to blame the government and big pharma.
Also, I'm ashamed to say that my judgmentalism towards drug users, addicts and losers stood in the way of my being able to fully enjoy the film.
I found the movie a little slow at one point, and it was a little too serious for my liking.
It's timely to have an AIDS movie because too many young people are not wearing condoms.