Dallas Buyers Club is directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, and stars Mathew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. This film is a bio-pic (or biography if you aren’t a film nerd) of a man named Ron Woodroof (played by McConaughey), who in 1985 is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. He ends up becoming one of the hugest advocates for proper treatment of AIDS patients in the US (not to mention a drug smuggler and founder of the Dallas Buyers Club), and he lives for 7 years. Buyers clubs were formed in order to import different AIDS related therapies that were not available in the US at the time, but were available in other countries. It was a sneaky way of getting around laws and the FDA because technically you weren’t selling illegal or unapproved drugs; you were simply selling memberships to the club, and giving the medications away for free.
This film chose to really focus on fear; the fear of the unknown that was AIDS, its major outbreak in the states in the 1980’s, and the injustice suffered by the individuals unlucky enough to contract it. It is always disturbing to me when I watch portrayals of such verbal and physical abuse, the unbelievable cruelty, and the sheer lack of humanity demonstrated; the utter desperation portrayed when it came to AIDS, not only from the people with the disease but those who lived in fear of contracting it. There are scenes in which Jennifer Garner and Denis O’Hare (who play Woodroof’s wary doctors) that show the two wearing face masks to protect themselves from this disease that is such an alien thing to them, made me want to laugh, but with disgust and sadness at the ignorance those struck with this disease in its early days had to deal with. The scenes of Woodroof trying to get back to his life as usual, but being utterly rejected by his former friends and colleagues because he now had “fag blood” and a “queer disease” broke my heart. To think that prejudice like that exists in our world shakes my faith in humanity. The hate and fear and discrimination is just palpable. That is what makes the evolution of McConaughey’s character throughout the film really something else to watch. He starts out as this homophobic junkie cowboy, who, because of his lifestyle choices is now dying from a terrible disease that has taken control of his body and his life. The change happens very gradually. He slowly begins to understand (and experience) the stigma surrounding the disease and the American government’s inability to provide proper care for something that they simply don’t understand. At the same time, he is getting to know the people AIDS affects, and begins to appreciate gay culture and lifestyle from a not so bigoted and intolerant point of view. Not only that, but his partner in crime and what turns out to be the number one relationship in his life, is Rayon, a transgender individual played by Jared Leto.
The other big topic surrounding this film was the transformation that McConaughey underwent in order to play the role. He reportedly lost around 50lbs and believe me when I say that disturbing doesn’t even begin to describe the look of his body in this film. Everything is so sickly and out of proportion, you wonder how he survived it. I think it’s important that we take a minute to talk about another actor’s transformation for his role in the film as well; Jared Leto also looked to have lost quite a bit of wait, not to mention he is playing a transgender woman.
All in all, this heartbreaking tale is one that I highly recommend you see, but make sure you have a box or two of Kleenex handy; you’re going to need it.
The Hardigan Review 