I liked the movie and found it interesting that it was based on a true story, but there are a couple of things about the movie I didn't understand.

SPOILERS

Why did Steven Russell, fake his death by faking that he was dying of AIDS? Faking that you are dying of AIDS would be a long difficult process and there are just more chances of things going wrong it seems.

Wouldn't it be easier to fake that you died in say by pretending that you got stabbed to death, or a car explosion something? Why AIDS of all deaths to fake? It seemed like a really strange and questionably unique choice.

Another thing is, when he tried to escape prison earlier, he disguises himself in what I can only describe as a gay hooker-ish looking outfit, and this enables him to walk out of the building.

I'm not American, so maybe this is an American thing, but how is that a prisoner can escape from prison just by wearing a gay hooker looking outfit, and they will just let you out as a result?