From director Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria) comes Dallas Buyers Club, a film set in the 80s following the AIDS/HIV epidemic happening at that time. We follow Ronald Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) as he’s told he has 30 days to live. Ronald refuses to accept his fate a forms a friendship with the most unlikely person, Rayon (Jared Leto), a transvestite who also carries the virus. Together they travel from Mexico and back to sell unapproved drugs to help others with the virus, but also being targeted by the authorities and the FDA. The story is eye opening and the performances are stunning.
The plot of Dallas Buyers Club is unconventional, but told in a conventional way. Not entirely a bad thing as it is based on a true story, but at times you can’t help but to think “Oscar bait”, but luckily the subject material is interesting enough and the direction is gritty, not flashy, and completely engaging. It’s much more character driven than plot-driven but the story will keep interested until the credits roll.
Dallas Buyers Club rests on the performances of McConaughey and Leto, both encompassing the role and delivering truly amazing performances. This proves that McConaughey’s comeback isn’t a fluke and he’s a force to be reckoned with. His tour de force performance as Ron, fighting to survive and learning tolerance along the way is remarkable to see. Shedding nearly fifty pounds to play the role, McConaughey is skin and bones; it’s sick but essential to see. Leto, playing the transvestite role near perfectly adds layers of drama and comedy to an already pitch dark story. Expect to see nominations for both performances.
While Dallas Buyers Club sticks a safe way of telling the narrative, the structure is fairly straight forward, but the subject material is hard-hitting and able to get under your skin. Bolstered by likewise heavy performances makes it soar for it’s 2 hour run time. The writing is constantly good, and has a deep flow to it with plenty of payoffs and subversions. The entire arch of Woodroof is enough to see the film, the evolution of such a bigoted character is a site to see.
Overall Dallas Buyers Club isn’t a film for the faint of heart, but it’s strong writing, and confident direction take the conventional progression to maximum heights. Held down by career best performances from McConaughey and Leto that are sure to see the Academy soon, is a winner. I give Dallas Buyers Club 4 stars out of 5.
Photo courtesy of EPK