Three different stories are told, each with a different take on the HIV virus. One deals with a porn actors decision to ignore his illness in order to provide for his family. The other concerns an Asian woman’s reluctance to knowingly spread a disease around. The final story is about three nuns and their confrontations with the virus in Africa.

One of the more striking realizations I had after watching this film is how numb I am to the HIV virus. I’m curious as to whether or not other people are as disinterested in the subject as I am. I think that disinterest is one of the things that made it hard for me to accept this movie. Even if I was more sensitive to the subject of AIDS, this film still had some problems that prevented it from ever becoming what it was striving to be.

It was clear with the three similarly themed storylines that director Thom Fitzgerald told in the movie that they were supposed to drive home a point about our culture and society’s view on AIDS. Unfortunately, it would have been better if he had tried to weave them together somehow and then have all the points climax at the same time. Instead, I felt like I was watching three separate after school specials.

Each of the stories were about forty minutes long and none of them had enough time to really get going. The Asian story struggled the most with many of the details getting clouded in the rush to move on to the next story. There were very few instances where the motives of the characters were actually explained properly and therefore the audience was left with more character-driven questions then I’m sure Fitzgerald intended. I can also say that I would have lived a happy life without watching Lucy Liu squat in the middle of a field and pop a baby out.

I do applaud Fitzgerald for trying to make a film like this. However, it’s about ten years too late. He had a chance to make some good points about the subject, but he didn’t take the time to tell the stories and then relate them together. At the end of the day, I was bored with the stories and the was indifferent to the plight of the characters.

Video: Widescreen (1.85:1): I mentioned that the movie felt like an after school special and unfortunately, it looked like one too. The picture was full of grain and was an overall sloppy transfer.

Audio: English 5.1 with English subtitles: The audio was decent and the surround channels were used when necessary.

Deleted Scenes (6:02): Nothing in these scenes will clear anything up for you. Most of these deal with the nun storyline and all of them needed to be cut. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t offer anything new.

China Aids Initiative (18:02): It says Magic Johnson and Yao Ming on the back cover, but the two stars don’t show up until about the half way point. The good news is that this little featurette explains a lot about how the disease spread through China and that helps you understand the Asian storyline.

House on Fire – AIDS in America (8:45): This should have been tacked on to the previous featurette because it covers the same thing, but just briefly touches on AIDS in America. It’s basically a public service announcement, but it’s worth a look if you like the film.

There are also some Previews and a TV promo.

I know what Fitzgerald was trying to do and he just wasn’t able to pull it off. Instead of a poignant look at the AIDS virus in today’s society, he created a mess of stories that were told too quickly and without enough care. AIDS is a big problem, but this movie isn’t going to make you feel any different about it.