If there was ever any doubt about Matthew McConaughey’s uncanny ability to all but carry a film, Dallas Buyers Club has snuffed it out. The former schlocky B-rom-com star has already turned in a career-defining performance this year with his portrayal of a slick and smooth-talking outlaw in Mud, but nobody was expecting this incredible turn from an actor who has only recently started getting critical recognition. But now McConaughey has two shots at the Best Actor award this year, and as far as I’m concerned, he can run against himself, because he deserves it twice over.
Dallas Buyers Club is the true story of Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), a gleefully homophobic, drug-addicted Texan in 1985 who contracts AIDS after banging two random women at a rodeo. This opening sequence is particularly symbolic, as it splices images of a man riding a bull with... well... Woodroof doing some riding of his own. And the interesting thing is, although the man on the bull gets knocked off, trampled, and gored, the activity he just engaged in is far less dangerous than what Woodroof did.
After contracting the virus, Woodroof is given 30 days to live. Being a red-blooded, meat-eating ‘Murican, he flips off the doctor and proceeds to live not one, not two, but SEVEN YEARS LONGER. Oh, uh... spoiler alert. Anyway, in order to keep himself alive, he travels to Mexico to obtain a non-FDA-approved drug that helps his immune system cope with the virus and doesn’t corrode healthy cells (like the medicine being taken by hospital patients). The medical aspect of this film is given a lot of screen time, and if you can’t follow technical mumbo-jumbo about drugs and the legal system behind them, don’t bother with this. However, it’s not impossible to follow, and those who pay close attention will notice some interesting-- and disheartening-- parallels between Woodroof’s drugs and marijuana use today. And for the record, people should be able to decide what they put in their bodies. This isn’t North fucking Korea.
Woodroof is helped along, however, by two characters who I could have really done without. Jennifer Garner plays a nurse at the hospital, whose character arc could be drawn with a ruler. She’s flat, boring, and uninteresting, and Garner isn’t a very good actress either. She brings nothing to the table, and comes off as snivelly and obnoxious (basically rehashing her role from Juno). Meanwhile, Jared Leto plays a transvestite with AIDS, who is so stereotypical I could scream. I haven’t had much experience with the gay community, but I seriously doubt that people like this exist and are this annoying. Also, we’re supposed to feel sympathy for Leto’s character, but I didn’t-- not because he was a flamer, but because he was a fucking drug addict. These two characters work fine with McConaughey, but when they have screen time all to themselves, MAN OH MAN, you’d better watch out.
But McConaughey more than compensates for the rest of the cast’s shortcomings with an utterly enthralling performance that somehow makes his reprehensible character lovable and (dare I say it) totally badass. There’s undeniable charm to a person who not only does the right thing, but does it with a complete disregard for authority, a twinkle in his eye, and a spring in his step. Sure, Woodroof may have acted firstly out of self-interest, but as his business venture evolves into a full-blown charity for AIDS patients, the redemption of his character is powerful and poetic. If you thought that the hardest thing is being a gay guy with AIDS in Texas, well, look no further than being a STRAIGHT guy with AIDS in Texas.
This story is a truly powerful thing, as it works not only as a story about morals and choices, but as a modern parable about redemption. Woodroof’s complete 360-degree transformation is spectacular, and the more he changes mentally, the more he does physically as well. McConaughey actually fasted to play this role, and it shows. He fills in his character with a sallow, wrinkled, and pale appearance that expertly mirrors the trademarks of the HIV virus. He puts in tremendous effort for this movie, and it totally pays off. I haven’t seen a performance this good all year, not even from Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips. And when you’ve got a performance worthy of rivalling Tom Hanks, well... you’re in the big leagues.
Final Score for Dallas Buyers Club: 8/10 stars. This movie is great, but it could have been a lot better if it had more fleshed-out minor characters and some less in-your-face imagery. I’m not asking for censorship, but seeing a transvestite shoot heroin into his ass fifty times doesn’t really contribute much to the plot. I’d be fine if there was some point to it, but good God, I don’t want to watch that shit. Still, the movie is definitely worth seeing, and every homophobic asshat out there should definitely sit down and give it a view. I’d love it if this subject transformed America as much as it did Woodroof.
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