Dir: Jean-Marc Vallée
Year: 2014
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner
Genre: Drama/Biography
Cert: 15
Ron Woodroof is a gambler, electrician, womanizer, hustler and a cowboy, played by Matthew McConaughey. He is always getting himself in trouble and drinking whiskey when possible. After he has an accident at work, he wakes up to find out that his blood work shows he is HIV positive and has a mere 30 days left to live. FDA approved medicines seem to worsen his condition so he decides to use connections in Mexico to import legal, but non-FDA approved drugs to help prolong his life. He becomes partners with Rayon, a transvestite with AIDS, played terrifyingly by Jared Leto. They both set up the Dallas Buyers Club and begin to sell the drugs to AIDS patients in need, while trying to evade the drug squad and doctors who are losing patients to him.
This was a fucking jaw dropping movie, I was literally zoned into it once it began. McConaughey literally looked like he was dying in this, he apparently lost 47 pounds but it looks like way more. He did the part justice and is annoyingly criticized for some of his racial and homophobic language early on. People seem to not realise this was set in '85! It was the norm to talk that way then and people weren't as accepting as now-a-days so to say that his character isn't likable due to that is preposterous! It has such an odd atmosphere throughout. It's heavy drama, then almost Scorsese style with him building his drug empire. It's up for best editing at the Academy Awards too, it probably wont win but it would be nice if it did! Really nice style to how it's done, also extra impressive considering the movie was shot in twenty five fucking days! Insane!
It's edited very neatly in that respect considering he travels all over the world in it. Jared Leto gives a haunting performance as Rayon. He looked like he went properly method and got himself AIDS for the role! Shockingly thin and and sickly looking. A tremendous performance from him, which is unsurprising cause he's a very scarce but superb actor. This is his comeback movie after five years and he has a huge shot at getting the Best Supporting Actor, which he entirely deserves! McConaughey is up for the Best Actor which he also definitely deserves! I would love to see DiCaprio win it too, but I think McConaughey deserves it more! Jennifer Garner is also in this... and that's all I have to say about that! She's good in it, but I'm not a fan of her in general so it's hard for me to give a bollocks... She's very convincing when breaking down and smashing a wall with a hammer though! Herself and McConaughey have a good chemistry though. Their love interest is well done but somewhat depressing at the same time as it's pretty much running on an egg timer.
How it's shot for some reason reminded me of The Wrestler, it had the same atmosphere throughout, I'd say there was some ideas borrowed from it! Some moments also reminded me of Philadelphia, only on a more personal level with the main character. Someone who has nothing but bad to say for the gay community becomes heavily involved with a gay person in some form, receives backlash from the public and begins to have a respect and understanding from it all. Rather than being a lawyer defending a gay person, he's a straight man who is being treated the same as a gay person would have been back then. so it was interesting to see the connection with the two, despite not being connected at all in general. I loved everything about this movie, acting, direction, editing for sure and the great use of T-Rex tunes! Highly recommend this to everyone! It's a solid drama without being soul destroyingly heavy!
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