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An electrician who is a homophobe and kind of a shady character is diagnosed with AIDS in the early 1980s and ends up fighting the powers-that-be to open a medical marijuana dispensary for other HIV positive and AIDS patients.
I actually had no idea what this was about; Mr. Otter brought it home and I saw that Serious Honey Matthew McConaughey was in it and said, Sure!
And I’m so glad I did.
McConaughey has been doing romcoms for a long time, most of which are pretty forgettable, but now that he’s getting older, he is reinventing himself and taking on new and different kinds of roles. This was a very good one.
Not only was he amazing as the former player turned militant crusader for the rights of people he was not comfortable even talking to at the beginning of this movie, he made the transition work as the character changed and became outraged at the situation. Plus he lost 40 pounds for the role, and looks totally believeable as an AIDS patient; now THAT’S dedication.
And of course the history was excellent, the whole seriously bad handling of the AIDS crisis from the beginning, and this movie shows that as well.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people in this movie, and the writing is excellent, but McConaughey just steals the show.
This was a very happy surprise.
theotterlimits 