Dallas Buyers Club, 2013.
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, Steve Zahn, Dallas Roberts, Kevin Rankin, Denis O’Hare, Juliet Reeve, and Griffin Dunne.
SYNOPSIS:
A daunting subject dealt with in striking fashion, Dallas Buyers Club tells the real life story of Ron Woodroof, whose discovery that he has AIDS sets him on a journey that not only fundamentally changes him but helps many other sufferers at a time when the illness and many of those who carried it were vilified.
Mud, Magic Mike, True Detective, The Wolf of Wall Street and the upcoming Interstellar. A thrilling career resurgence. With his usual lithe frame looking weak and gaunt it was wince-inducing to watch Matthew McConaughey at times. But his lack of muscle mass belies a powerful performance, matched by a script that displays several strong ideas without hitting you over the head with them.
Set over the course of several years the film is punctuated by a piercing, almost headache inducing sound, which soon becomes a harbinger of bad tidings as it signifies a worsening of Woodruff’s condition. With the man making such a wild change in his view of the world I found myself dreading these moments, as I wanted him to have the chance to keep going and remain a force to be reckoned with. That the sound make me feel physically uncomfortable was initially off-putting but ultimately I felt it was a clever choice as it puts you in the characters shoes.
McConaughey is fantastically belligerent, charming, and strong, and could have easily overpowered anyone in his vicinity. But his larger than life personality is matched by Jared Leto’s Rayon, a drug addict and HIV-positive transgender woman whose sassy and sweet nature burrows under Woodroof’s skin. A shadow of his usual healthy self, Leto never descends into caricature and imbues Rayon with the strength someone in Rayon’s position would no doubt need to survive in a strongly homophobic 1980’s Texas. Jennifer Garner doesn’t match the level of intensity of the two other leads, but her character goes through her own changes whilst providing a different point of view.
I was surprised to find out that the film was shot over only 25 days in 2012 for a modest (by Hollywood standards) budget of $5 million. The script itself had been in development since the 1990’s and has had various big names attached to it. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay McConaughey is that I couldn’t imagine anyone in the role.
Dallas Buyers Club may not cover the most palatable of subjects, but it’s respect for both the story and characters is apparent in every scene. The ‘McConaissance’ is clearly still on an upward trajectory. To concentrate solely on him however does no justice to the thoughtful script, direction and acting talent shown throughout.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Cooper is a Flickering Myth Staff Writer, and owner of the blog Super Duper Stuff. Follow him on Twitter @SDCCooper or visit the blog’s Facebook page.
Originally published June 2, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
