3 reasons ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ is a great film

"Dallas Buyers Club" is the extraordinary account of how a homophobic, redneck hustler from Texas becomes an unlikely AIDS activist after he's told he only has a month to live. Here are three reasons why it should be considered one of the great films to debut this fall.

• A lot has been made of the fact that Matthew McConaughey lost 40 pounds for his role in the movie. Even that, though, doesn't prepare you for how stark a transformation the actor went through to play his character.

• It's a true story, based on 30 hours of interviews with the real Ron Woodroof. Before he died, Woodroof said a movie should be made of his story to show the importance of asking questions about medical treatment.

• The film captures the fear, paranoia and panic of the mid-1980s AIDS crisis in a painfully human manner.

Click on the video above for more. And here's my story on the film's Minnesota connection.

And on the radio this week, Movie Maven Stephanie Curtis and I reviewed "Dallas Buyers Club" and "How I Live Now."

• After five years, State of the Arts comes to a close
• Park Square’s second stage to open Friday
• Most critics find ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a dreamy delight
• Michael Kareken fills two galleries with ‘Parts’