THIS film is based-on-actual-events film and describes how a man living just above the societal level occupied by the bottom feeders, reacted to a doctor’s diagnosis that he is HIV positive with a life expectancy of 30 days.

An alcoholic, drug-raddled homophobic redneck partial to three-way sex, electrician and rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof had many buddies but few real friends.

Matthew McConaughey gives a terrific portrayal of Ron’s refusal to kow-tow to that potential death-sentence and how he devoted the rest of his life to finding and marketing a medication. This put him offside with the film’s main bad guys, comprising three US Government agencies, the medical profession and the one that really matters, the pharmaceutical industry.

Jennifer Garner as medico Eve and Jared Leto as transvestite Rayon form the initial nucleus of Ron’s support group that grew into a commercial venture exploiting a legal loophole by charging customers $400 a month to become club members thereafter entitled to free meds. Notoriety and commercial success did nothing to sweeten Ron’s demeanour or moderate his substance abuse.

Admirable more for his determination than his charm, Ron’s initial estimated 30 days life expectancy grew into six years. Jean-Marc Vallee’s vigorous treatment of a screenplay by Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack runs for 117 minutes.

At Dendy, Palace Electric and Capitol 6