* * * *

(AIDS in the ’80s)

Matthew McConaughey lost 45 pounds to play the redneck, homophobic, bull-riding, hard-drinking, coke-snorting sex machine, Ron Woodroof. When a routine medical exam uncovers the fact that he has AIDS and has 30 days to live, Woodroof goes bananas.

Jennifer Garner and Denis O’Hare play his doctors, who offer him little hope. But Ron is a fighter and seeks out any way possible to extend his freewheeling life. Ron researches the subject and learns of alternative methods, most of them illegal in the United States. He steals AZT, using the then popular drug in a destructive combination with drugs and alcohol. He smuggles illegal drugs from Mexico, expanding his activities to Japan and beyond, selling the drugs out of a motel and literally stealing patients from his own doctors.

Fighting the law, Ron turns his operation into the “Dallas Buyers Club,” selling memberships at $400 a month and giving away the drugs. He teams up with a transvestite (the fabulous Jared Leto), in an ironic move for the blatantly homophobic redneck. Thirty days pass swiftly, as Ron reaches the six-month and then one-year time in his expanded operation and fights with the law, the FDA and eventually the IRS.

Loosely based on a true story, the movie reaches its stunning conclusion, an indictment of the way society looked at and treated the dreadful disease in the ’80s. There are some funny scenes in the movie, but the subject matter is very serious. McConaughey and Leto are absolutely incredible in their opposite portrayals of two fascinating characters. Their interactions provide some of the best and most poignant acting you will see this year. A warning that the movie carries a big R rating, with profanity, sex, nudity, violence and drug use.