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Matthew McConaughey stars as Ron Woodruff in this true story about a womanizing electrician whose given thirty days to live after doctors discover he carries HIV. The year was 1985 and the American government was loathe to take HIV/AIDS very seriously at the time, with most people believing it was only a ‘gay disease.’ Indeed, Woodruff loses many of his old buddies when they find out he has the disease, many of them calling him ‘faggot’ and ‘queer,’ despite the fact that he openly promiscuous with women. Once Woodruff accepts that he has the disease, he educates himself about it and discovers that there are many different vaccines and treatments being developed all over the world. But the only one the U.S. will allow patients to try is AZT, which makes patients sicker than the disease itself.

So Ron goes to Mexico, Israel, Japan, and many other places to smuggle unapproved drugs into the country. Together with a transsexual drug addict named Rayon (Chris Leto), Ron forms a ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ where people with HIV can purchase monthly membership in exchange for whatever drugs he is able to acquire. (It turns out that such Buyers Clubs were popping up all over the country during the AIDS crisis in the 80s.) The Buyers Club helps many people, including Woodruff himself, who outlives his 30 day death sentence by more than seven years with the help of drugs the FDA hadn’t or wouldn’t approve.

McConaughey and Leto both won Oscars for their performances, commendable not just for acting ability but physical endurance — both men go through extreme weight loss to depict the ravaging effects of full-blown AIDS. The relationship between their two characters is tenuous and far from a cure-all for their problems. They both contend with a great deal of loneliness throughout the movie. Those are the moments where the actors excel. Director Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y., Wild) keeps everything immediate and palpable, unfolding before your very eyes. He even slips in a few bits of hallucinatory/dream imagery now and then. Jennifer Garner co-stars as a sympathetic doctor.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing

Academy Awards: Best Actor (McConaughey), Best Supporting Actor (Leto), Best Makeup/Hairstyling