Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey give eye-opening performances in gripping DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013)
In theaters now
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When foul-mouthed homophobic womanizing racist Ron Woodroof (a career redefining Matthew McConaughey) suddenly finds out he has contracted the AIDS virus and has thirty days to live, he is determined to do whatever it takes to stay alive. Soon he has set up a small operation where people with HIV and AIDS can obtain medications that the FDA has not approved but that appear to help control the disease. Based on a true story that was documented in a Dallas Life magazine article in August 1992, Dallas Buyers Club is a gripping look at the AIDS crisis as seen through the eyes of a macho Texas electrician and rodeo man who doesn’t like what he sees when it comes to the medical establishment, believing that doctors and the FDA are in bed with the big pharmaceutical companies, who want to fast-track the questionable AZT drug. Jared Leto gives a spectacular performance as Ron’s business partner, Rayon, a transgender woman trying to live life as a woman; Leto, almost unrecognizable, immerses himself in the complex role, avoiding genre clichés as the Marc Bolan-worshiping Rayon works alongside Woodroof. And McConaughey goes the full Christian Bale route as Woodroof, losing fifty pounds to play the gaunt wheeler-dealer who loves life too much to just give up. The cast also features Jennifer Garner as Eve Saks, a doctor who is sympathetic to Ron and Rayon’s plight; Denis O’Hare as her strict boss, Dr. Sevard; Griffin Dunne as a former doctor helping AIDS patients in Mexico; and Deerhunter lead singer Bradford Cox as Rayon’s lover, Sunny. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y., The Young Victoria) and written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, Dallas Buyers Club has already started collecting end-of-year awards, and more should be coming for this powerful examination of a different side of the AIDS dilemma.
Nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Matthew McConaughey), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jared Leto), Best Film Editing (John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa), Best Original Screenplay (Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews)