Dallas Buyers Club Review

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner

Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée

Released: November 1^st, 2013

Over the years I've been surprised by many actors, many deciding to go through drastic measures to escape the inescapable grasp of type casting. In my eyes some actors have succeeded, like Jim Carrey and Jonah Hill. Others have tried so hard that it's become a pretty painful experience to witness (Adam Sandler anyone?) But within the span on one year there has been one actor who has remarkably and completely changed his career by flipping it completely on its head. A man who, if you asked me three years ago if he was “one of the greatest actors working today” I would have given you a very loud and obnoxious NO!! As with many other film-goers, I am talking of course about Matthew McCounaughey. McCounaguhey is one of the best hidden talents working today in cinema; an actor who has remained pretty much under the radar as far as great actors go but has suddenly emerged as one of the best working today.  His entire resume has been compiled of the typical romance flick (and a very awesome dragon movie) but over the past few years he has been trying desperately to break away from that persona, with Dallas Buyers Club he has completely succeeded and has now become one of my favorite actors working today in film. 

Dallas Buyers Club is the tragic yet bittersweet true story of Ron Woodroof, an electrician and part time rodeo cowboy who is diagnosed H.I.V. positive. With only three months left to live and with no medication for treating the disease Ron travels to Mexico, where he discovers alternative treatments which miraculously prolongs his life far past his life expectancy. With this new found knowledge Ron smuggles the life altering dugs back stateside and begins to treat other carriers of the H.I.V virus.  With the help of Rayon- a transsexual and carrier of the virus- they create the Dallas Buyers Club, a way for other individuals who are infected with the AIDS virus to gain the proper nutrients and supplies that the government, and other health establishments are failing to administer. Ron learns to accept not only his current predicament, but the LGBT community as well, as he fights to protect the people, and the drugs that are saving their lives from the Government who only care about the profits of a drug that could potentially poison its patients.

The film has a very strong message, which is pretty obvious from the get go. The movie weaves its tale and message very carefully in order to not feel to preachy and self indulgent. Dallas Buyers Club is sailing on a fine line between a film with a great message and a movie that could easily have turned into a film where the message overtook the story. Thankfully the latter is not the case because Dallas Buyers Club really is a great movie. What this movie does best is showcase the hardships of those who came into contact with the AIDS virus during the 80s, and showcasing the hardships that each individual had to endure. The movie also shows how people were not really informed on the virus and how you could come into contact with it. Most of the people in Ron's life all believed that the only way to get AIDS was to have sex with another man. Of course as time (and the movie) has shown us this is not the case. The blind hatred and prejudice to the LGBTQ community is appalling and while things have gotten allot better since the 80s we still have allot of work to do in order to make things right. 

Of course as mentioned above Dallas Buyers Club is a film with very strong performances. Each actor gives one hell of a performance and both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto are both up for Oscars for Best Lead and Best Supporting Actor. Matthew McCounaughey simply vanishes into the role of Ron Woodroof. McCounaughey continues to surprise me with each new role he has been taking, his performance in this movie shows that there is a hidden talent within this man, and where did this talent come from!! You would never have known that Matthew McCounaughey was this good an actor, it's a pity that he's been type cast over the years because he truly has a raw and emotional talent that he's been earning to release. Last year alone we saw what he could do in Mud, and the Wolf of Wall Street with Dallas Buyers Club he has completely knocked every role he's done in the past and shot it straight into the stratosphere. Ron Woodrood is a very tragic figure yet one we can all hope to aspire to, his undying devotion to the people he takes care of is incredible and is such an inspiration.

Jared Leto plays Rayon, a transsexual who becomes Rons partner in crime and best friend. Jared Leto is no amateur when it comes to acting, he's had quite the career over the years, his drastic and controversial makeover for Dallas Buyers Club gained allot of press before the film was released, but it was worth it. Just like his co-star Leto simply dissolves in this movie. His performance is so raw and emotional it’s very hard to not shed a tear for a character that I believe many people in this world can relate to.  Rayon is the best performance Leto has given in his entire career and the Oscar nomination is completely understandable, Leto deserves all the recognition he has been receiving for this movie and is a joy to watch.

Jennifer Garner is also in this film and I feel her performance has been completely underrated due to the amazing job from her two male leads. Garner plays Dr. Eve Saks, the doctor handling Ron's case. The two form an unlikely relationship as she struggles against the Dallas Buyers Club and her own job. Sak is really caught in the middle of Ron's battle; she is a Doctor who knows that the drugs being administered by her hospital and many others across the country are killing hundreds of patients. She can see the obvious results from Ron's Dallas Buyers Club but is waging a war within herself against the morals of the situation and her own job. She is wonderful in this film and I think that she also deserves some recognition for such an amazing job in this film.

There isn’t much to hate with this film so it was very difficult for me to pick at least one thing I didn't like. This is a film with a very moving and touching story, great performances and a very strong message. I do feel however the ending of the film was a bit abrupt, perhaps thats because I was really invested into the movie and sad to see it end, but it felt sort of tacked on. I understand that Jean-Marc Vallée probably didn't want to movie to be too long, because it very well could have been a three and a half hour movie.  That being said I still think that there was allot more that the movie could have said before the credits did role.

While this is the only negative point I can make on this movie I still think Dallas Buyers Club is a fantastic movie and I give it a

8/10

Dallas Buyers Club is one of the best movies of 2013, there isn't allot to hate in this film. The performances are stellar and memorable; the story is moving and is exactly the kind of film we need to see in this day and age. There is allot to learn from Dallas Buyers Club, within Ron's amazing journey we learn how to treat others with respect and love, and more importantly how to be Human, its obvious why this movie is up for best picture, lead and supporting actor this year and I hope it wins at least one of these categories in the coming Academy Awards.