The one bit of casting I could not get my head around was the gorgeous, delicious, heart-breakingly handsome Matt Barr as the vile disgusting homeless man trapped in home, Puck. That still makes me shudder; I have no idea what they were thinking there. No offense is intended toward Matt, who I always enjoy (obviously), but that was not the role for him!

With a lot of DVD releases the special features are little more than the required add-on’s to make people feel justified in buying something that they’ve already seen in theaters. With this DVD, however, the Special Features add so much to the story that they are a must! I can’t imagine what the impact of the film by itself would be without everything that these bonus features bring to the table.

First, the introduction by President Bill Clinton adds the gravitas needed for the movie. Before you know anything else about this man you know that one of the most successful Presidents in U.S. history (with the exception of that whole sex scandal thing), respected, honored and supported him in his fight against this disease. Then following the film there are 3 full episodes from The Real World: San Francisco and Pedro’s actual audition tapes for the show. These are so important because in the film we see these events recreated and they serve their purpose in the film but to be able to see Pedro himself in these situations, your understanding of him as a person is brought to a completely new level. Alex Loynaz did an admirable job portraying him, but for all the nuances and subtleties that he may have missed you need only look to these videos and it’s all there.

I sincerely hope people get to see this movie because it serves as a perfect reminder of not only the admirable struggles that have been made in the past in our fight against AIDS, but also that the fight continues and that new heroes, new role models and new leaders need to step forward. Pedro Zamora’s legacy will live on forever and his contribution can never be forgotten; but it’s also time for others to pick up that mantle and finish the battle that he helped to begin!

Movie Grade: B+
DVD Features Grade: A-
Overall Grade: A-