AIDS in the '80s

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2014)

If you watched your friends die of AIDS in the '80s, you will have an emotional connection to Dallas Buyers Club, which is the true story of the rebellious Ron Woodroof.
Matthew McConaughey plays Woodroof, an electrician, homophobe, womanizer, and rodeo rider, who is diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and given a month to live. At the time, the only drug available was AZT, which did not help Ron. He then starts seeking other treatment and ultimately forms The Dallas Buyers Club, smuggling non-FDA approved drugs from everywhere he could and distributing them to other AIDS sufferers all over the world. Woodroof himself lived until 1992.
Part of Woodroof's realization that we're all human and helping AIDS patients came from his strong friendship with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender also diagnosed with AIDS. He is also befriended by a compassionate doctor (Jennifer Garner) who doesn't believe that AZT is the answer for AIDS and is interested in other drug protocols.
I actually have never believed, and don't believe now, that pharmaceutical companies are interested in a cure for AIDS -- maybe an AIDS vaccine -- but there is too much money in stopping the progression. Also, let's face it, AIDS has become big business, with the growth of organizations to serve the HIV/AIDS communities as well as foundations dedicated to research.
Consequently, nothing about this film and the behavior of the FDA surprised me, and I have to agree with what was said by a judge in the film - terminally ill people should be able to try anything they want if they believe it might help them.
My big problem with the movie is that I believe Woodroff was bisexual, and I don't understand why he isn't in the film. It seems to me to be a cowardly move.
The performances are exceptional -- but then, both McConaughey and Leto have been given exceptional roles that are also sympathetic. Sometimes it's hard to separate all of that from performance. When A Time to Kill was released, I transcribed an interview with Matthew McConaughey. Back then, he had a dog named Miss Hud and asked his agent if he could meet Paul Newman. Suddenly he started making fluff and taking his shirt off. But the talent exhibited in this movie was always there, as was the commitment -- along the way he got lost in the money, I guess. This had to be a role close to his heart -- he is from Texas and has probably met men like Woodroof. He does a beautiful job.
As Rayon, Jared Leto is magnificent, totally believable, giving a poignant, warm performance. He's long been a versatile human being, and this is a wonderful achievement.
If you didn't live through this period, this film will perhaps not have the effect on you that it will have on others. The death sentence, the distancing of friends, the refusal of some hospital workers to touch you (as happened to a friend of mine) -- men too young to die, at a time when nothing could be done for them. If people became angry with the FDA, it was for good reason, though they did rush things along. Part of it was the political pressure exerted by gays and good for them.
Today, thanks to people like Ron Woodroof, it's possible to live with this disease. For the thousands and thousands who died, they just contracted the disease a little too early.
Despite some flaws, this is a thought-provoking film about a miserable time.