DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (2013)

 

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 1:58
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee

In many ways, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is all about Matthew McConaughey's eye-opening performance. I will reserve my opinion on whether or not he deserved the Best Actor nod for this film but what I would like to highlight is his transformation from former leading romantic lead to a dramatic actor. After taking a hiatus from film-making three years ago, McConaughey made an important decision to rebrand himself by breaking away from romantic comedies in favour of dramatic roles in several independent films. He was relentless in this pursuit (including his Christian Bale/The Machinist-style physical transformation in this movie) and as a result, earned himself a well deserved Oscar. There's a lesson here, folks. One of the most compelling aspect of Dallas Buyers Club comes from watching McConaughey's character develops from a macho redneck into someone who shows respect for gay men and women, and from a bum into a person who takes charge of his life. McConaughey is supported by Jared Leto, whose portrayal of a transvestite is effective. Another thing the movie successfully accomplishes is to recreate the AIDS-related paranoia climate of the mid-to-late 1980s. A secondary plot of the film revolves around the allegation of the US government "collaborating" with Big Evil Pharmaceutical Companies on which drugs to approve for the treatment of AIDS. The movie does what it sets out to do by providing a story of the journey of a broken character and offering a history lesson about AIDS sufferers during the dark ages of the 1980s.

Rating: 6.5/10