Sensational performances from McConaughey and Leto but there is no conflict at the heart of the 'Buyers Club'

Rating: 7/10 (14 February 2014)

I don't think Hollywood has quite managed to make a mainstream film about the stigma of being gay and having AIDS. 'Dallas Buyers Club' has elements which are utterly outstanding and I am sure you can assume that they deal with the acting. I am not quite sure if it is my personal desires of the film but I thought the film didn't quite explore the deeper societal experience of having HIV/AIDS. While there are individual strong looks at the character of Ron Woodroof I think the film fails to be about ideas even though it thinks it is.
The acting in this film from our leads is outstanding. Matthew McConaughey gives an Academy Award caliber performance. This is a role and performance that should be looked at by actors trying to understand the deeper nuances of how a character changes over the course of a film. McConaughey's exploration into Woodroof and how he evolves from being a homophobic bigot into a redeemed healer is really something to behold. I don't think there's been a performance recently that shows the evolution of a character's thoughts and soul as well as what is done here. McConaughey rightly gets a great deal of praise for the limits he pushed his body past but there is much more that adds to his performance as Woodroof. I love the way he deals with characters who are against his initial preconceptions about homosexuals and AIDS sufferers. Woodroof's bigotry is clearly a defense mechanism against his own deep insecurities. McConaughey shows the exterior and we see the facade fall. A piece of acting I think is often overlooked is how an actor reacts to his cast mates. McConaughey deeply listens and we see in his depleted body and face that this character is at a point where he must listen to stay alive. It's a brilliant performance.
Jared Leto is a chameleon and that's all that really can be said. I don't think Rayon is all that complex a character. Leto makes up for the script's shortcomings. It takes a really special performance to give a weak character the appearance of being fleshed out. Leto uses his body the same way McConaughey does. He obviously studied the notion of what it means to be female. Transgender characters are not touched upon by mainstream films because I think they are still scared despite the appearance of an open liberal Hollywood. Leto's performance is groundbreaking and humanizing.
Those are the strong points and here are the weak ones. Unfortunately the 'Dallas Buyers Club' gets pretty damn predictable as the movie tries to dissect the AIDS crisis. I think our culture does not want to look back at this time in the way we should look back on it. How society treated AIDS patients in the wake of the epidemic is one of the blackest and most disgusting moments of American history. The script I think leaves some things to be desired in the creation of the conflict against Woodroof's buyers club. The acting by the opposing antagonist played by Denis O'Hare is dull and so base that it almost feels like a made for TV romp. AIDS is such a charged topic and I wanted to see more about the conflicts it caused and how Woodruff eventually did become something of a hero. The only depth the pharmaceutical companies are given is that they are money hungry capitalists with the FDA in their pockets. McConaughey's Woodroof brings up some interesting points about the ethics of charging AIDS patients fortunes as they die. I would have liked to have seen stronger character development with these opposing forces and better acting.
Leto and McConaughey's performances are not to be missed. I think however that I and I am sure a few other film goers are still waiting for that honest and blunt portrayal of the AIDS crisis. The one which gives a nuanced look into the ugliness of what created the violent homophobes and the greedy people who profited off of misery and death.