Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey just cracked the big league.  This performance puts him in such company as Christian Bale and Daniel Day Lewis.  Had the film been made earlier it would be in contention for a spot on the top 10 male performances of all time list.

Dallas Buyers Club is based on a true story about Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician who contracts the H.I.V virus in the mid 80's and his subsequent struggle to attain the right medicines he needs to survive.  He finds a market selling non-approved drugs to other H.I.V patients and sets up the "Dallas Buyers Club" which provides all the drugs you need for the price of a monthly membership.  Through this he begins his own research and improves the lives of many people however maintains a constant fight with the F.D.A, the police and the I.R.S to provide the drugs.

It must have been a very frustrating time for those infected by the virus. The usual government corruption led to a drug known as AZT being approved for human trials and this was having very mixed results amongst patients.  Different drugs were available in other countries but were not approved by the F.D.A so couldn't be brought into or sold in the U.S.  Woodroof worked around the system and traveled to many countries finding suppliers and giving the people an alternative option to AZT, one that appeared to be far more successful.

The craziest thing about this movie was that it was made for 4.5 million.  Obviously a passion project for McConaughey who would normally draw that amount in salary alone.  It is well shot, incredibly acted and is quite an interesting story on a controversial subject.  I was pleased to read that it made about 25 million worldwide which is a great result for 4.5 million budget.

Jared Leto co-stars as Rayon, a trans-gender male with H.I.V who opens up the market for Woodroof and becomes a partner in the business.  Both McConaughey and Leto are fantastic.   They both had to lose insane amounts of weight and it is just disturbing how skeletal they are in some shots - similar to Christian Bale in 'The Machinist' or as Dicky in 'The Fighter'.  It really adds authenticity to the characters though.

My only criticism is that the story is very slow.  I think Macca used the term 'snails pace' and I would have to agree.   Given the true content of the story I'm not quite sure how they could have changed this, perhaps shaved 20 minutes off the  run time, not sure.  It was a good watch though but not one I will be in a hurry to watch again.

7/10

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