The second you see Matthew McConaughey‘s gaunt visage in Dallas Buyers Club, you know you’re in for a gritty movie, but this one is more intriguing that most: In the film, he plays Ron Woodruff, a real-life “drug-taking, woman-loving, homophobic man” who is diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live. After Azt treatments bring him even closer to death, he begins smuggling non-toxic, antiviral medications in from around the world, and — with the eventual help of his doctor (played by Jennifer Garner) and a transsexual woman named Rayon (Jared Leto) — inadvertently starts a smuggling ring for HIV patients who choose to forgo hospitals in favor of Woodruff’s U.S.-illegal remedies. The Fda and pharmaceutical companies wage a war on Woodruff, who went on to survive 2,191 days with HIV until he died in 1992.

Not your everyday caper. Rayon’s lover is played by the psychedelic band...