I was fully prepared to dislike this movie. I’ll willingly admit to being a snob on the subject of cinema, and the same goes for actors as well. I watched Failure to Launch (painfully), couldn’t finish How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, felt nauseated when I saw clips of The Wedding Planner at the doctor’s office, and completely avoided Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. And of course, these are some of the films that Matthew McConaughey is best known for. But I did watch Magic Mike last year–right after I saw the miserable Les Mis – and I have to admit I kinda liked it. That’s just about the only reason I was willing to give Mr. McConaughey the benefit of the doubt on this occasion.Let me set the scene. It’s Texas, it’s rodeos, it’s homophobia, and it’s drugs. Director Jean-Marc Vallee goes to great lengths to reinforce the fact that Ron Woodroof (McConaughey) is an absolute asshole at the beginning of the movie. The claustrophobic opening sequence – involving Ron nastily and noisily having sex with two women in the semi-darkness while watching some poor dude get attacked by a bull in the center of the ring – is clearly there to convince us that this is in all ways imaginable a filthy man.
So filthy, in fact, that we aren’t surprised when Woodroof receives his HIV diagnosis. He lives in a nasty trailer, snorts cocaine like the world is coming to an end, and has a pack of equally nasty, chain-smoking friends. Let me repeat: The audience is not supposed to like this guy. But it’s Matthew McConaughey, so somehow, beneath the nasty, racist exterior, you find yourself rooting for him.
The character evolution starts slowly. Woodroof is outraged when the doctor tells him he has HIV, insisting that it’s only something that “faggots” get. For Woodroof, HIV is not only the devastating conclusion to his toxic lifestyle, but also a threat to his masculinity.
I certainly appreciated that the movie shows Woodroof in denial. He won’t (or can’t) admit to himself that he has HIV for several days, which costs him more of those valuable T-cells as his immune system rapidly deteriorates. This has always been a common reaction to an HIV diagnosis, perhaps less so now than when it truly was a death sentence, and there is an important acceptance process that often gets ignored in contemporary discussions of the illness.
This acceptance process is one of the key plot elements of the movie – we watch as a formerly despicable man, after being given a horrifying diagnosis, becomes someone admirable and courageous.
I know that McConaughey is going to generate a lot of buzz for his performance, and he certainly deserves it – he does an excellent job portraying a human being’s moral evolution. Yet it is Jared Leto’s amazing portrayal of an equally charismatic, heroin-addicted transgender woman (Rayon) that makes the movie. I realize that McConaughey went through an astounding physical transformation in order to convincingly play a man at the end of his life, but it took me a full minute before I recognized Leto in Rayon’s drag makeup and hair scarf.
Rayon is the crucial element in Woodroof’s transformation. A pivotal scene takes place in a grocery store, where Rayon and Woodroof are casually buying groceries together and still working out the boundaries of their unusual friendship. One of Woodroof’s old acquaintances, a homophobic, beer-chugging police officer starts taunting Rayon. The satisfaction is almost palpable as Woodroof comes to Rayon’s defence. In so doing, he rejects his former lifestyle and cements his new-found status as a decent person.
I’ve focused on the moral evolution of the Woodroof character in this review, but I haven’t even touched on what many would see as the narrative of the movie – that is, Woodroof’s frustration with the fact that there aren’t any FDA-approved drugs to treat HIV. The only seemingly helpful one, AZT, is touted by doctors and the U.S. government as some kind of miracle drug when Woodroof knows from first-hand experience that AZT exacerbates the effects of HIV and seems to kill people more quickly. Determined to find better medications for himself and, increasingly, his growing circle of HIV+ associates, Woodroof sets up a “Buyers Club” where, for a monthly fee of $400, members can get access to black market drugs that help mitigate HIV symptoms but aren’t approved by an insidious FDA.
At first, Woodroof is clearly motivated by the enormous profit he can make by selling inaccessible drugs to a desperate population. But over time, and in tandem with the other aspects of his metamorphosis, Woodroof cares more about saving the lives of the powerless than he does about making a quick buck.
It is this transformation that makes this an incredibly uplifting movie, despite the dark subject matter. The movie’s social criticism operates on many levels, and the relationship between Woodroof and Rayon is both genuine and comical. It’s more than just another feel-good flick, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is doubtless among the best films of the year.
Comments
21 responses to “Dallas Buyers Club: McConaughey steps up”
the cast was excellent, but why has nobody included Jennifer Garner in the accolades? her part was not as flashy as those of the two male principals, but she did a better, more subtle job of character evolution.
Does anyone else think that the opening scene in the rodeo stall shows another male and not a female joining in as the third person? After rewinding and watching closely, it looks like a MAN enters the stall in the shadows after Woodward and woman have casual encounter. Then the scene shows a closeup of McConaughey as he continues to watch the rodeo, with the first woman standing at his side watching his face. This scene seems to show that he is getting anal sex by the third person (male) who entered the stall. Later in the movie, Woodward has a flashback and thinks of needle marks in the arm of this third person in the stall. The arm looks muscular and male. I understood this scene to show that Ron was a closet bisexual, and this may have been a likely way that he caught the HIV virus. His homophobia was his way of hiding his true self, but he does have a moral change as he befriends and helps so many others with AIDS.
I saw the same thing, and I’m thinking maybe I was mistaken, as no one seems to bring it up…. 🙂
and Jared Leto is just as outstanding
mcconaughey is a re-rising star – his work in Dallas is sheer mastery, and alongside True Detective says this guy has re-invented his career
I really liked this movie! Jared Leto really was mesmerizing. Great review!
I wasn’t a fan of Failure to Launch, The Wedding Planner and never saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, either – but I have to say that Matthew McConaughey was excellent in the movie “Sahara” with its full, amazing cast – and how could you not like “Fools Gold” with Donald Sutherland and Kate Hudson? (okay, so that was pretty much the same cast for How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days, but still!) It’s worth watching just to see Kate beat the crap out of Matt with a cane. Actually, he gets beat up a LOT in Fools Gold now that I think of it…
One thing, the beer chugging homophobe wasn’t the police officer. They do kind of look alike. But that wasn’t him
Great review. I can’t wait to watch it and you turned me on to it even more.
Good review Elina. The true-tale behind this is very interesting, but what’s really keep this going are the amazing performances from McConaughey and Leto, who both will be looking at Oscar nominations by the end of the year.
You have captured it. This is a wonderful film, and both Jared and Matthew deserve all the recognition that will doubtless flow their way. MM has clearly made a career decision to direct his considerable acting talent toward more grownup fare, much as Bradley Cooper is doing.
[…] is diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live. If you are interested, you can read my full review here. It might be a nice film to see this weekend if the tickets to Catching Fire at your local theater […]
Liked him in “Lincoln Lawyer” – will skip this one, just no interest, but I almost wanted to see it based on ads I apparently wasn’t watching close enough. He can be a great actor or a bad actor in a bad movie. iI’s an odd talent. He’s sort of the poor man’s Woody Harrelson (much better actor that no talks about for some reason.)
yeah I’m also a fan of Woody Harrelson, though I haven’t seen that many of his movies. He first caught my attention in “Zombieland,” a movie that I really enjoyed. But now he’s in “The Hunger Games” so perhaps greater recognition will come from that.
Nice post! I’ve always been a fan of McConaughey and always needed to defend myself before the recent years. You should definitely check Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe. And probably Mud but I haven’t seen it myself, so it’s a bit hard to recommend. 😀 Though he does only good movies these days.
yes, I’m thinking that now I definitely have to watch Lincoln Lawyer, Killer Joe, and even Mud!
You are sadly mistaken on Matthew McConaughey, his recent run of films over the last three years I think is almost unrivalled by an actor working in Hollywood at the moment. Start with The Lincoln Lawyer and watch all the films he has made subsequent. You will be VERY impressed.
Check my post out for more details! McConaughey rules!!!
http://thomasjford.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-matthew-mcconaughey/
Yes, I suspect you may be right! I’ve long been wary of McConaughey, but after “Dallas Buyers Club” I think I will have to watch more of his recent films.
Check out Mud next I think, and then for something a little different (and crazy) go for Killer Joe, although it’s not for the feint hearted!
You have actually managed to make me want to watch a film starring McConaughey, so well done for that!
Regards from England, Pete.
Glad to hear it! Hope you enjoy.