So, last night I finally made the time to go see Dallas Buyers Club starring every body's favourite nonchalant Texan who apparently doesn't wear antiperspirant according to his Auntie who I met once, Matthew McConaughey. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee; it's the story of Ron Woodroof; a horny rodeo halfwit hick who contracts HIV through heterosexual sex with a drug addict unaware of the risks during the mid-80s. Given only 30 short days to live, he takes matters into his own hands sourcing unapproved medication to survive.
Dismissed by his homophobic community and with a diet consisting of cheap whiskey and a fuck load of ropey coke, he quickly ends up in the emergency room where he befriends unlikely transvestite side-kick, Rayon, played beautifully by Jared Leto. With the prospect of wonder-drug "AZT" helping to cure his full blown aids (as its later referred to by his African American middle-aged secretary) he tries every trick in the book to register in the trial before he's forced to turn to America's favourite dodgy next door neighbour, Mexico, to find an alternative. Untested foreign meds and proteins help revitalise him and Ron sets out on a journey to overcome the simple-minded fat cats at the FDA and become unapproved med supplier to anyone who shares his equally ill fate. With the concerned care of Dr. Eve played by Jennifer Garner and business partner, Rayon, Dallas Buyers Club is a story of acceptance, belief, and above all, survival.
What strikes you from the offset is the physical change McConaughey has gone through to portray an incredibly sick guy. We're used to seeing him play the All-American cowboy with the muscle width to suffocate a teenage hippo but it was when I saw his cameo in The Wolf of Wall Street recently that I first noticed his pretty amazing transformation. His performance is outstanding and inevitably, people will compare the movie to the likes of Philadelphia which tackles the same terminal disease and the attitudes towards it.
But, where Denzel fought with his own personal demons to overcome homophobia, McConaughey is himself suffering from the virus and dealing with his prejudices first-hand. Rayon is his sassy associate and like that spitty tar dinosaur in Jurassic Park, will get his back up if the cowboy's derogatory nature begins to surface. With both actors performing outstandingly well, it's both funny and very moving watching the bond between the two characters blossom.
Garner is surprisingly good as the straight-arrowed doctor turned BFF who breaks free from the shackles of her cold-hearted boss Dr. Sevard to become Woodruff's unicorn. The performances throughout the movie are brilliant all round, particularly Leto who having toured the world wearing finger paint and jamming for 6yrs, has taken to the stage in his comeback gig as if he'd never been away. This just goes to show that all those teenage girl's knickers have made him a better man and an even more engaging actor.
Dallas Buyers Club really impressed me and the countless BAFTA and Oscar noms are unequivocally justified for what is (I hate spelling his bloody surname) McConaughey's greatest performance to date. It goes to show that you don't necessarily need your big budgets and your overly ridiculous set designs, just a solid cast and a director who wants to tell the story of an extraordinary person...that just liked sex way too much.
Dallas Buyers Club receives 4/5 Macho Man Randy Savages.
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