The Robin Hood For AIDS Victims

Rating: 8/10 (16 February 2015)

Inspired by actual events, "Dallas Buyers Club" focuses on the dying years of a Dallas hustler who goes out of his way to face up against the FDA to help AIDS patients get the treatments they need to reduce the suffering after discovering that he himself has this unfortunate disease.
Ron Woodroof (1950-1992)(Matthew McConaughey) is a part-time electrician and a part-time rodeo entertainer who lives in Dallas, Texas. One day he gets admitted to the hospital on account of a work incident, Mr. Woodroof's hospital admittance becomes more serious than he has expected. The doctors discover that Woodroof has AIDS. Though he's not an excessive needle pusher or a homosexual, he refuses to believe that he has what he believes to be a "gay disease". But the tests he receives confirm that he has AIDS and according to his doctor Dr. Sevard (Denis O'Hare) that he has only one month to live.
With life hanging on by a string, Woodroof confiscates the experimental drug AZT as a way to stall the illness from getting worse. And when he finally runs out, he ventures off to Mexico in search for other antidotes. What shocks him is that AZT is a poisonous substance and that if AIDS won't kill him, AZT will, but he finds a concoction that will do the trick. A victim of his own selfish purposes to make a profit, but with the assistance of a transvestite named Rayon (Jared Leto, his clientele begins to expand. The larger his client based, the more homophobic and narrow-minded he becomes.
If he thought he could keep this operation running any longer, well reality starts to come into play. It isn't before very long that the FDA would storm on and repossess his antidotes and warns him that he will be arrested on account of trafficking. Therefore, with that in mind Woodroof establishes a subscription-only-conglomerate known in which he calls "The Dallas Buyers Club" where he's not officially selling drugs, but memberships. Woodroof embodies the AIDS community that these remedies actually works. And even though he's a gay-bashing jerk of an individual, but his cause is actually helping those he truly despises. Meanwhile the FDA whose payroll comes from the major pharmaceuticals, these corporate shrills are unintentionally killing them. Rod decides his destiny is to bring down the FDA and ensure that he's doing it for the sake of a cause.
Matthew McConaughey has really outdid himself here, by sacrificing his own physicality to lose a substantial amount of weight to turn away from his usual boy-toy personae making him almost unrecognizable. On a mental note, famous for his lovable romantic characters to play a rather crude, narrow-minded homophobic despot. But still, in spite of his flaws, we still love the man for what he's doing and we love McConaughey because he makes this character believable and truly deserves the accolades that was given to him.
Jared Leto also looks unrecognizable under all that makeup and dresses to play Woodroof's assistant Rayon. Leto avoids the silly humour like a he's going to a costume party to play a very sympathetic and endearing character. Jennifer Garner has the more complex initiative as the morally inclined Dr. Eve Saks, but she still manages to pull it off flawlessly. The supporting players are equally poignant with Denis O'Hare as the corporate siding physician Dr. Sevard and Steve Zahn as Woodroof's cop buddy, Tucker.
The wonderful script by Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack is saturated in character development. And even though the characters have their share of strengths and flaws, it scores high points in effectiveness and believability. The ingredient that makes this film very effective comes in terms of the relationships within the characters and that we were able to understand a complex character who's quite unlikable but still manages to hold a place in our hearts. Borten and Wallack succeed in avoiding overly done sentimentality and succeeds in keeping it standard which might seem dull to some viewers.
Director Jean-Marc Vallee give this cinematic project a documentary feeling to it. It's never flashy and the story is executed as all the events are transpiring before our very eyes. We see no sympathy within the characters as no one's sugarcoated and that harder truths come uncompromising. It's not pretty, but straight to the point and leaves no stone unturned. It's not always pleasant, but life was never meant to be fair. And even though the production value lacks in connection, the style of storytelling makes this movie significant.
When coming to see this movie, brace yourselves for two hours of engaging characters, who lack moral vibes while defending themselves against corporate shrills for the sake of a good cause. The movie depends on a motivating script intense performances and the realism involved. It won't change your life, but it will make you ponder who our government really cares for.