Pedro

Movie Grade: B+

DVD Features Grade: A-

Overall Grade: A-

I was honestly really nervous about sitting down to watch Pedro on DVD. This is a heavy subject matter and a really important story to be told, so when I saw that it was an 'MTV Movie of the Week' style production my stomach dropped.

There was no way that it could be a hard hitting dramatic look into Pedro Zamora's life with the budget and crew they were working with. And sure enough my fears were confirmed by the look of the film, the questionable acting by some of the cast and the at times cheesy approach to difficult situations.

But regardless of all of that, the brilliant script written by the amazing Dustin Lance Black and the awesome power of Pedro's real life story and struggle made all the imperfections fall away and left me with a swirl of conflicting emotions and a desire to watch it again.

The film tells the story of Pedro Zamora who immigrated to this country from Cuba with part of his family when he was very young. His mother died at an early age and so he grew up with a traditional, distant father who was less than pleased to later find out that his son was gay. After discovering at age 18 that he was HIV positive, instead of hiding from it or trying to live in denial, Pedro became an outspoken activist in the fight to educate the public about HIV and AIDS and spoke out whenever possible about the need for research and public support to help find a cure.

At the age of 21 Pedro auditioned for and was cast on MTV's hit show, The Real World: San Francisco. Now with cameras on him 24 / 7 Pedro continued his work educating his roommates and all of America on the subjects of being gay and HIV positive. President Bill Clinton has said that thanks to Pedro, no one in this country can say that they have never known someone living with AIDS.

Recreating real life is hard enough but the task of recreating the pseudo real life that was going on in The Real World house proved to be more of a challenge for the cast than I think they were expecting. Anyone else remember that horrific movie that was supposed to be the lost Real World Season where people died? God that was terrible. But it also demonstrated that 'acting' like you're not 'acting' even though you kind of are 'acting' is very difficult.

In any event the cast assembled here does a decent job of walking that fine line. Perhaps the most convincing are Hale Appleman as Judd the sensitive, level headed cartoonist and DaJuan Johnson as Pedro's eventual partner Sean Sasser; they both seem to embody their characters in an all consuming way to the point of almost never

having a false moment. (Look for a clever cameo by real life Judd with his wife Pam and baby as they walk down a set of stairs in one scene passing Pedro and Pam's on screen alter egos.)

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-