Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 film directed by Jean-Marc Valee and starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. It follows the story of a real person named Ron Woodroof, who after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS decided to fight the FDA and the harmful medicine they were using. This movie really is quite amazing. The acting is absolutely fantastic, and the characters feel very realistic and well written.
Dallas Buyers Club is based off the story of Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986. He was given 30 days to live, but instead managed to survive 7 years. After meeting a transgender man named Rayon, he sets up a “Buyers Club” for people living with AIDS to get actual medicine, instead of the harmful drugs the FDA was distributing.
The best thing about this movie is the acting. Both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto won academy awards for their roles as Ron and Rayon respectively. There are some moments in this movie that can arguably be considered some of the best acting in history, particularly from McConaughey. He completely carries the weight of this film, and thankfully he succeeds. Ron is a very interesting character, who feels very realistic thanks to a multi-faceted personality. He’s extremely rough and crass some times, yet at others he behaves like a perfect gentlemen. And the scene where he cries in the car while pondering suicide, is simply incredible. Rayon on the other hand, doesn’t have as many scenes or amazing moments as Ron, but still has one very memorable, where she says, bluntly, “I don’t wanna die.”
Something I found weird about Dallas Buyer’s Club is the relationships between characters. It almost feels like some crucial scenes between Rayon and Ron were cut, as the relationship goes from Ron slinging homophobic slurs at Rayon in one scene, to him defending her in the next. It feels very weird in the sense that although the chemistry between them is pretty good, we really never saw them becoming friends. Additionally, the romantic subplot between Ron and his Doctor, Eve, seems to go nowhere. They go on dates, and flirt with each other, but the movie never does anything with that. They don’t kiss, their relationship really is never tested too much, and overall it seems pointless. I suppose they did it so that Ron could have a confession scene where he says what his hopes and dreams were, like saying he wants kids. (Ironically, the real Ron Woodroof was divorced and had a son at this time.)
Overall, despite it’s wonky relationships between characters, Dallas Buyers Club is an excellent film. It easily deserves the academy awards it has, and it will probably go down in acting history for McConaughey’s absolutely stunning performance. Please, go watch this film.