The Wolf of Wall Street Roars with Ferocity

The Wolf of Wall Street (4 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by: Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Goodfellas)

Written by: Terrence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Jonah Hill 

This film is going to be a mixed bag for people, most people want a moral to a story, or a "lesson learned."  The lesson learned in this film is that people are selfish, and within out society they are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get snort and sleep with whoever they want.  Not exactly a good lesson.  If you are expecting these characters, and director Martin Scorsese to coddle you into making you feel like everything will turn out fine then go see a Disney flick.

Wall Street centers on the real life, Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) a broker who is taught by a mentor played briefly by Matthew McCounaughey to pull a fugazi, namely steal from his clients.  The economic crisis in 1987 sends Jordan back to the bottom, where he must climb, or well claw his way back into the game.  While searching for a job he stumbles upon a small firm in Long Island that uses pink sheets selling penny stocks to the less financially solvent people.  While those around him fail to gain the big sales, Jordan dreams big in order to take the fifty percent commission, and boy can he sell

As his own person wealth begins to rise he meets Donnie (Hill).  Donnie questions Jordan on his fancy car, and on his bank statement.  In one of the most memorable moments of the film Donnie asks Jordan to prove he made 72 grand in one month, and he will quit his job, and work for him.  Soon Donnie is on a pay phone quitting his job, and the bond between best friends begins, and as their friendship grows, their goals of running their own con through their firm Stratton Oakmont begins.

This film is above conning the audience, this is proof as Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together on five films starting with Gangs of New York, then The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, and now this picture.  With every film they get bolder and magnetism on the screen grows, this is their best work together.

Leonardo DiCaprio pulls off another "Gatsby-like" role with Jordan, but within this film the material is much stronger, and the range of his performance is so damn convincing.  Jordan could and maybe should be described as a terrible person, but like the real life person many were drawn into his world, and you feel the same way about DiCaprio's performance.  DiCaprio speechifies, he has the command of his stock troops, or even when he's lying to the people he "loves" there is something so raw, and brutal about this performance.

Martin Scorsese adds to the decadence of his Jordan's surroundings with one of the most visually sumptuous looking films.  A lot of the credit should also go to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Amorres Perros) who does a fantastic job highlighting the orgy (sometimes literally) of goods from mansions and yachts to sex crazed parties. 

Martin Scorsese's last film, Hugo, was also visually stunning, but these films are like night and day.  Scorsese uses the sharp wit from Terence Winter's script to help highlight this dark world with brutal honesty.  Leo is a funny guy, but Jonah Hill steals the show with comedy in this film, the guy is just funny; he knows how to deliver a line of sarcasm and humor with perfection.  Hill is a scene stealer.  The same can be said for Margot Robbie who bursts onto the screen the same way blonde bombshell Cathy Moriarty did in Raging Bull.  Robbie does not always deliver the laughs, but she draws you in, and eventually as she loses herself and Jordan you get the intensity you want from her character, this is what Jennifer Lawrence should have delivered in American Hustle.

Martin Scorsese pushes the limits; he tells a darker, braver story about a group of guys who con the pants off Wall Street.  Using Winter's brilliant script Scorsese's tale blends humor to show just how ridiculous the world of white collar crime has become, and some of the earliest stories from people stealing from the poor and keeping for themselves.  Scorsese does not clean up the story, he shines a bright spot light on just how nasty these men were, and that even in the end the they still try to sell themselves and other people their bull shit.  In the hands of a lesser team this could have gone badly, but with Scorsese and Leo they pull off another great work of art.

2013 Entertainers of the Year

Entertainment Weekly has done this list for years, and I try to create my own list without looking at their list, and I do not know their list sans Sandra Bullock as the "Entertainer of the Year" because the cover was everywhere on twitter.  With that said I have to agree with her as Entertainer of the Year, and here is the rest of my list.

1-Sandra Bullock-"Box Office Powerhouse/Great Actress"

Bullock made everyone laugh, and maybe cry this year in two of the biggest films of the year, The Heat and Gravity.  Bullock is one of the few actresses working today who can always draw a crowd.  Big studios always seen to want to use men or male oriented themes to make money, but over the years they have been proven wrong by women like Julia Roberts, and Sandra Bullock.  Bullock is a bit different from Roberts; she has had the romantic comedy mode, but Bullock has a charisma to her which is not only like able, but can carry a variety of films.  This year Bullock helped turn the buddy cop film into more than just a guy thing in The Heat.  Bullock showed everyone this is not always a mans game, this was also true with Gravity.  Bullock carries the film or floats through the film on her own two legs.  Sandra Bullock is the entertainer of the year, because she is a box office power house; she is funny, a good actress, and states simply with her presence the power women can and should have in film.

2-Vince Gilligan, and the creative team behind Breaking Bad-"The Men who made Television Magic"

Can you believe this happened?  This was a statement uttered at work every  Monday after an episode of Breaking Bad.  Twitter and Facebook were a buzz talking about a show about to end, and the way it was ending.  Vince Gilligan and the team behind all of the seasons of Breaking Bad crafted a beginning, middle, and end to Walter White, and Co, that some are calling the most flawless from start to finish.  The reason this show had people hooked was because week after was because something "real" and dark was happening on a weekly basis for a man who started at a desperate place.  The entire run of this show was great, but the final season was an edge of your seat ride that may never be matched.  Hell Anthony Hopkin wrote a letter to Bryan Cranston saying it was some the best work he'd ever seen.

3-Justin Timberlake "He Brought Sexy Back with his 20/20 Experience"

Over the last seven years Justin Timberlake has focused more on his acting career, and while his movie has not taken off, his role as a variety performer on Saturday Night Live has been triumphant.  Yet JT is the most successful through his music, with two albums one released in March, the other September, which complete the 20/20 Experience, and sold out concerts all over the country Timberlake has soul, and boy does this guy shine on stage.  The man is unstoppable selling about 3 million albums.  While Timberlake has not done as great at the movies this year he also starred in Runner Runner along side Ben Affleck, and stars in the critical darling Inside Llewyn Davis.  What a guy!

4-Netflix "It's Not TV it's Binge Watching at its Best"

I remember about 7 or 8 years ago when Netflix was all the rage because they would send you DVDs in the mail.  After this novelty wore off the company seemed to be in a little bit of trouble, but this past year marked the biggest turn-around I have seen in a while.  Netflix created a partnership with Disney, and other companies, and now the amount of first run movies and television series on their Instant feature is incredible.  Netflix did not make the list for this fact, Netflix made the list for their original and revitalized programming.  House of Cards was the first, and with Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Corey Stoll and Kate Mara this show was an Emmy winner, and all around great series.  Netflix brought back the cancelled series Arrested Development, and fans rejoiced.  Netflix also has partnered with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan on Orange is the New Black, which in my opinion surpassed the buzz on House of Cards.  This service is unstoppable. Every year a network makes my list, well Netflix is not a network, but they have revolutionized the way television series are consumed.

5-Jennifer Lawrence "The Girl on Fire with our Hearts"



Lawrence stole our hearts when she tripped, and stepped up to the podium in February to win her Best Actress.  Jennifer Lawrence is an "every girl" she is honest, upfront, and never seems to let go of herself for Hollywood.  Lawrence has two movies this year, one The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which on pace to give Iron Man a run for his money at the top of the box office this year.  Films centered around a strong female character rarely do well, and it could be in part because of the popularity of the books, but people who are not fans of the series are showing up to see Lawrence; she is a star on the rise, and great in this film.  Lawrence has already claimed another acting prize just this week for her other film American Hustle, Best Supporting Actress from the New York Film Critics Circle.  While I think Lawrence is a bit miscast in the role she certainly is a presence, and will most likely score her third Oscar nomination at the young age of 23, what a talent!

6-Tom Hanks "How Tom got his Groove Back"



For most of the 2000s Tom Hanks has been more of a behind the scenes guy, sure he took on roles in the Dan Brown adapted films, and Charlie Wilson's War, but Castaway was his last "great" role way back in 2000.  Since this time Hanks was producer extraordinaire. This year two roles seem to be knocking people out of the water, critics and audiences are saying he is "back."  In Captain Phillips the last five minutes will break your heart, Hanks has never been better, and the film made 100 million domestic, and incredible feat for an adult drama.  Look out for Tom Hanks as Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks; he is getting a lot of buzz for this role from early screenings.  With both of these roles he may even be a double nominee at the Oscars this year.

7-Matthew McConaughey "Pretty Boy turned Go to Actor"



While Tom Hanks got his groove back Matthew McConaughey started to find his last year with Magic Mike, Bernie, Killer Joe, and The Paperboy.  McConaughey was a great in each one of those films.  This year McConaughey has only two performances but they are the best of his career.  McConaughey takes more of a supporting role in the Jeff Nichols film Mud where he plays a man looking to get the love of his life back.  McConaughey's acting within this film is so natural, but brazen its fun to see him play vulnerable; he does it well.  McConaughey's other role is bit showier, but boy is it jaw dropping.  In Dallas Buyers Club McConaughey lost tons of weight to play a man diagnosed with AIDs; he was a bigot, a kind of bad guy, but he fights hard to survive, and this performance is the most raw performance of his career.

8-Macklemore and Ryan Lewis "Music with a Message Never Sounded Better"



While this group has been met with a myriad of emotions, I think what they have done for music this year is great. They have three massive hits on the charts "Thrift Shop" "Can't Hold Us" and "Same Love."  This duo who avoided major labels is proof that the music game can, and should be done in a less corporate way.  There is something to be said for the way they sky rocketed to success, and the way they have incorporated meaningful messages into their music.  I think rap has started to go back to including deeper meaning into their music, but I like the message these two men present, and I think they are proof in the "Cinderella story" effect of entertainment.

9-Michelle and Robert King "Saviors of  Quality Network Television"



If you are not watching The Good Wife, or if you have never seen an episode its time to go back to the beginning and play catch-up.  The ensemble acting which goes on within this show is like a perfect well oiled machine, and they were almost picked, but the credit has to go with the shows creators, who write and direct for the show, Michelle and Robert King.  The way they have constructed the humor and drama within the show reminds of the way this was done on The West Wing.  There is something special about a show that can take the "procedural" of weekly cases, intertwine them to the emotional wellness of the cast, and never make you feel as though the story is forced.  The Kings are my favorite duo working today, they know how to build genuine non soapy drama, their is a humanity to this show, and they proven that networks can step up their game.  They have in fact just look at the slate of this year's new dramas on network television.  This credit is largely due to this show.

10-Allison Janney-"The Queen of Scene Stealing"



Allison Janney has made a name for herself and to many as CJ Cregg from The West Wing, but prior to this role she was one of the great character actresses who would show up in small roles, and steal scenes, see 10 Things I Hate About You, or Primary Colors and tell me I am wrong.  Janney is at it again this year in both films and television.  This summer she starred in the indie film The Way Way Back where she played a hilariously obnoxious neighbor, Janney's lines stole most of the film proving her comedic genius. Janney is also stealing the show Mom on a weekly basis as Bonnie a grandmother, mother, and recovering alcohol and drug addict.  Janney's timing is perfect, and she makes this show better week after week.  Janney is not just about the laughs her recurring guest role on Masters of Sex has provided a richer context to show, and the development of a woman's sexual awakening in the 1960s.  This woman is a chameleon, and its hard to ignore her greatness.

Inside Llewyn Davis wins Best Picture at the Gotham Awards

In a bit of an upset Inside Llewyn Davis beat 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture. Slave was the most nominated film at the award show, but did not win a single award,  The Gotham Awards have honored some great films, and performances throughout the years, but the awards rarely have an actual impact on the Oscars.

Best Feature:
12 Years a Slave
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Before Midnight
* Inside Llewyn Davis
Upstream Color

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
* Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All is Lost
Isaiah Washington, Blue Caprice

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johansson, Don Juan
* Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Amy Seimetz, Upstream Color
Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

Breakthrough Director
* Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Adam Leon, Gimme the Loot
Alexandre Moores, Blue Caprice
Stacie Passon, Concussion
Amy Seimetz, Sun Don’t Shine

Breakthrough Actor
Dane DeHaan, Kill Your Darlings
Kathryn Hahn, Afternoon Delight
* Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Robin Weigert, Concussion

Documentary
* The Act of Killing
The Crash Reel
First Cousin Once Removed
Let the Fire Burn
Our Nixon

State of the Oscar Race 2013: Which of the Many Best Actor Candidates Make the Cut?

Yesterday's Independent Spirit Award Nominations proved one fact, there are so many great performances from male leads this year that there had to be six nominees.  The six nominees are Bruce Dern for Nebraska, Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave, Oscar Isaacs for Inside Llewyn Davis, Michael B. Jordan for Fruitvale Station, Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club, and Robert Redford for All is Lost.

Looking at this list of six most folks, including myself would go wow, this would be a great line-up for Oscar, and they and I would be right.  There is just one or well a few minor problems, and they include: Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips, Forrest Whitaker for Lee Daniels' The Butler, Christian Bale in Out of the Furnace or American Hustle, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street or even The Great Gatsby, and the bigger long shots Idris Elba for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Joaquin Phoenix for Her, and Ben Stiller for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  That is 15 possible candidates, and astounding.

Let's look at Independent Spirit Award Nominees past track record, meaning the last 5 years, or even 10 before that the amount of crossover between minimal.

2012

Only Bradley Cooper was nominated for both Oscar and and the Independent Spirit Award (ISA), but he did not win either John Hawkes who was a strong contender to be nominated, but missed out because of Joaquin Phoenix.  Hawkes won the Spirit Award.  Of the five nominees Cooper and Hawkes were the only strong contenders.

2011

Jean Dujardin won the ISA and the Oscar for Best Actor for The Artist, this rarely happens, but could happen again this year. Dujardin and Demian Bichir were the only two nominated for the ISA, and Oscar.  The only other nominee for the ISA who had a possibility of being nominated was Ryan Gosling for Driver, but the Academy appeared to hate this film.

2010

James Franco was the only person nominated for ISA, and Oscar of the five nominees; he won the ISA, but lost Oscar to Colin Firth.  None of the other four contenders were ever "serious" contenders for Oscar.

2009

Jeff Bridges won the Oscar and the ISA for Crazy Heart.  The only other person nominated for both ISA and Oscar was Colin Firth for A Single Man.  None of the other three men were "serious" contenders.

2008

If you want to find a year similar to to 2013, where ISA, and the Oscars line-up was 2008.  4 of the 5 nominees were nominated at both, and they were Sean Penn in Milk (who won the Oscar) Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (won the ISA), Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker, and Richard Jenkins for The Visitor.  I could see a similar situation to this happening this year, 4 of the five nominees come from this line-up, while two are snubbed.

Let's look at this year's ISA nominees:

Locks:
Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave
Robert Redford-All is Lost
Matthew McConaughey-Dallas Buyers Club

Ejiofor and Redford are the two top contenders at the moment, but watch out for Matthew McConaughey his performance in Dallas Buyers Club is the thing Oscar performances are made of!

Near Lock:
Bruce Dern-Nebraska

Dern is almost the next closest thing as a lock in this category, with his buddies like Nicholson and his daughter Laura Dern championing him, he can/will be a strong contender to not only be an Oscar nominee, but a surprise winner.

Longshots:
Oscar Isaacs-Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan-Fruitvale Station

Isaacs and Jordan are the newcomers of this group, they have critically acclaimed performances, but breaking into this category as relative new comers is going to be tough.

Who takes the fifth spot of the non-ISA contenders?

Tom Hanks-Captain Phillips-The film just made 100 million and he is getting rave reviews for his performance.  The thing working against him is that people may just nominate him in supporting for Saving Mr. Banks.

Forrest Whitaker-Lee Daniels' The Butler-The film is going to better with Oscar voters than critics, and with Weinstein Company behind the film I can't imagine it not getting more than one acting nomination  Whitaker has won before, is the movie out of sight out of mind?

Christian Bale-Out of the Furnace or American Hustle-If he was going to get nominated my money would be on Hustle, but in this tough year his performance and weight gain may be overlooked.

Leonardo DiCaprio-The Wolf of Wall Street or The Great Gatsby-Wolf has not been seen by anyone, and DiCaprio is always a dark horse especially in a Scorsese film.  Gatsby is only a contender in the technical categories.

At the moment my prediction for Best Actor is:
Bruce Dern-Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks-Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey-Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford-All is Lost

Anything is possible in this category, but I only see one of these men losing out, if any.  The truth of the matter is that Oscar should take a note from the ISA nominees, and have 6 nominated performances.

State of the Oscar Race 2013: Exploring the Unknown in this Year's Supporting Actor Oscar Category

Last year's Supporting Actor race was one of the most interesting races.  The critics loved Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike, but he was ignored at all of the "major" award shows.  Tommy Lee Jones got some recognition from critics groups, and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (SAG).  The eventual winner was Christoph Waltz who also won at the Golden Globes, and BAFTA, for what is largely refereed to by many as a lead performance. What made this category interesting last year was the fact that every nominee was a previous winner, the other two nominees were Alan Arkin for Argo, who won for Little Miss Sunshine, and Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook, who has two Oscars one for The Godfather Part II, and one for Raging Bull.

What makes this year just as interesting?  The fact that only Tom Hanks who will compete for Saving Mr. Banks has the most history with Oscar with 5 nominations, and 2 wins in the lead category.  This category has a lot of unknown factors. Many of the performers within this category have never received Academy attention, or have only been nominated once before.  See the the list of major contenders listed below:

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (never nominated)
Pro: Method performance, many actors eat up a performance like this, and why shouldn't they?  Leto is great and I would argue is the front runner.
Cons: Does the slight homophobia which exists in Hollywood understand this performance, the more conservative voters.  Will they get this role?

Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks (two time Oscar nominee, 5 time nominee in acting)
Pros: Enter Tom Hanks who is getting rave reviews for playing Walt Disney, the man who has the most Oscar nominations, and basically beloved.  A beloved actor playing a beloved Oscar winner, Hollywood eats that up!
Cons: Hanks has 2 Oscars, is that enough?  Some may think yes

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave (only nominated for Golden Globe)
Pros: Oscar loves their bad boys in this category, and Fassbender is the baddest!  
Cons:  Is he too bad?  I do not think he can win, but a nomination is likely.  He has also said that he will not campaign.,

Barkhad Abdi-Captain Phillips (never nominated)
Pros: Hanks is going to champion Abdi to a nomination, and he has a lot of friends.  I have heard a lot of celebrities talk about how impressed they were with this relative unknown.
Cons: His unknown status, are people going think only about the titular Captain Phillips aka Tom Hanks.

Daniel Bruhl, Rush (never nominated) 
Pros: Great performance about overcoming and affliction, and achieveing even further greatness, the classic success story Oscar likes to see.
Cons: No one saw this film, and unless Bruhl gets major love from the critics he could be all but ignored, if he shows up at the Critics Choice and Globes this could telling.

Harrison Ford-42 (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pros: The only performer who could seen as that underrated performer in this category this year; he has only one Oscar nomination, and is vastly overdue for consideration.
Cons: Solid performance in a decent film, it has happened many times before, but 42 is not going to be considered in any other categories, which again has happened before, but does he deserve it for this?

John Goodman, Inside Llewyn Davis (never nominated)
Pros:  Goodman has been on the radar of Oscar the last few years turning in great scene stealing performances in Argo, and Flight.  Goodman is a Coen regular, could this be the role that finally gets him on Oscars radar?
Cons: Is Davis going to be one of those Coen movies Oscar voters "do not get?"  It could, but prestige may win out, and help sneak in this category.

Matthew McConaughey, Mud (never nominated)
Pros: He is going to get attention for Dallas Buyers Club, which could make others tune into this film as well; he also gives a great understated performance.
Cons: McConaughey a double nominee in one year?  The film did better than Take Shelter, but are people/voters going to tune in, or make this happen?

David Oyewelo, The Butler (never nominated)
Pros:  The film has the Weinstein Co. on its side, and they know how to get nominations, see Silver Linings Playbook last year.  Oyewelo is great in the film and deserves consideration.  People are underestimating the two men in this film.
Cons:  Another unknown, and while I am certain Harvey will do a major push for The Butler at the moment its an out sight film.

Jake Gylenhaal, Prisoners (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pro: Like with his previous nomination Gylenhaal could get a nomination for a lead role, did they really campaign him supporting for Brokeback because he was the bottom?  "Leads" do well in this category
Cons: Prisoners seems out of sight out of mind, one of those forgotten films that just was solid and well made, but will never hit Oscars radar.

Bradley Cooper, American Hustle (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pro: He was nominated for an O. Russell film just last year.
Cons: No one has seen the film, hard to say.

This is of course not every possible contender, but these appear to be the strongest at the moment.  The nominees will be centered around a combination of which films people "love" and performances they admire, except for Hanks none of these men have been "major" players for Oscar more than once.  Only Ford fits in the overdue category, like Christopher Plummer, James Coburn, and Morgan Freeman, but he is on the low end of most predictions.  I am excited to see how this category turns out, there are so many great supporting performances out there.

Dallas Buyers Club is a Fantastic Film, Lead by Two Strong Performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto

Dallas Buyers Club (4 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by: Jean Marc-Vallee (The Young Victoria)

Written by: Craig Bortan and Melisa Wallack (Mirror Mirror)

Starring Matthew McConnaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner

People always talk about the fact that a "cure" for HIV/AIDS has to be around the corner.  This film focuses on buyers clubs which are underground methods which attempt to get around federal/state laws.  Buyers clubs exist for all sorts of this ranging from marijuana to the focus of this film the Dallas Byers Club, which helped people get safe medication while high dosage of AZT was crippling people's immune systems.

The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (McConnaughey) a straight male who is diagnosed with HIV and eventually contracts the AIDS virus.  Woodroof had lots of unprotected sex and did lots of drugs, but at the time of his diagnosis HIV/AIDS was still known as GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). The climate of Texas at the time, and for the most part still today there was rampant homophobia.  Woodroof is told he has 30 days, and eventually fights to get treatment through buying AZT illegally.  Once the well runs dry Woodroof ends up in Mexico and all over the world finding alternatives to helping people feel healthy with the disease.  Woodroof starts this buyers club with woman named Rayon (Leto), together they create the Dallas Buyers Club where they sell membership to people dying of the diseases.

Club is a powerful film, and the film is made great by the performances from McConnaughey and Leto.  McConnaughey has knocked me out this year with two terrific performances in both this and Mud.  In Club McConnaughey transforms his body for the role losing tons of weight, but also disappearing into this character.  Woodroof is kind of scumbag throughout most of the movie, and he's someone you want to hate mainly for his rampant homophobia.  McConnaughey adds so many layers to this character making him layered, showing his passion, and heart to not help keep himself healthy, but to do right by other people in fighting the FDA on the policies.  The best role of his career.

I have always thought Leto was a great actor, Fight Club, American Psycho, but most of his career has been focused on his time as a musician with 30 Seconds to Mars.  Leto proves he has the chops as Rayon a transgender female.  While McConnaughey is going to get most of the attention because he is great, Leto gives this film heart; he is fantastic as Rayon.   Rayon has confidence, but in her vulnerable moments Leto shows the cracks in the exterior beautifully; he is phenomenal.

While these two men deserve the vast majority of the credit, the unsung hero of this project is writer Craig Bortan.  There is no data,, or information about Woodroof beyond an interview Bortan did with him in 1992 one month before Woodroof passed away.  In the interview Woodroof was said to be incredibly candid, mainly because he knew was so close to death.  Bortan does a good job giving these two people such fantastic depth.  My one complaint in the film is Garner's character who plays a doctor, helping run AZT trials.  Garner is great, but I think the character pulls focus away from these two.  Woodroof getting a love interest made the man in the film "more like able" but the goal of the film should be the man behind the club.  I found McConnaughey's growth as a person and connection to Rayon to be strong enough to make this a great film.

Director Jean Marc-Vallee brings to life an intricately woven tale about a complex man, and his constant struggle to live while fighting the government and some of their most inane regulations.  Marc-Vallee's first film, which I saw entitled C.R.A.Z.Y., was fantastic, The Young Victoria was a bit cold, but not bad.  This takes his direction to a whole new level, and creates an experience, which can't be forgotten.