Dallas Buyers Club

Plot synopsis:
A son of Texas, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. He gets rodeo-goers so pissed off that he has to run away from them. The presence of a cop (Steve Zahn) who pretends to arrest him is what saves him. He is knocked out by electricity when trying to save a Latin illegal worker who got his leg caught up in a machine. Through all these experiences, Woodrooff continuously coughs a lot. After being knocked out, he wakes up at hospital, and doctor Vass (Griffin Dunne) and Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) tell him that his inmunitary defenses are so low that it's a miracle he's still alive. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence.After receiving the news, he participates in an orgy, like those he used to like so much. He also takes drugs, but he looks at a calender and feels down. His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S., challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Saks. She notices the gold watch on the speaker who talks about the virus and the medicines. She is being told that, after all, medicine is a business. Meanwhile, Ron goes to the library and checks medicine literature on the subject, coughing all the time. He remembers the time when he probably caught it.Ron goes to hospital again and Eve tries to help him because he is giving a hard time to nurse Frazin (Donna Duplantier), but Ron is an ass to her, shouting that he doesn't need a nurse but a doctor. Eve Saks helps him as much as he can anyway; she tells him that the medicines he heard on the TIME magazine in Germany are not available in the USA. She sends him to a support group, but he doesn't want to be seen with "faggots".His own friends don't even want to sit near him anymore, and a bar brawl almost ensues. The first time he goes to the support group, he just takes leaflets about the matter and threatens one of the members of the audience who tried to hug him. When he goes to the oil field, his boss in line and the rest of the workers want him out of there, so he doesn't even get out of his car. A Hispanic orderly (Ian Casselberry) steals the drugs and sells them to him. Ron passes out.An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon (Jared Leto), a transsexual who shares Ron's lust for life. They share the same hospital room and Saks is both their doctor. On the 29th day, Ron looks like crap, but not necessarily like somebody who is about to die - he picks up a gun and thinks of committing suicide but cries and doesn't give in.On 30th day, he reaches Mexico. Dr Sevard (Denis O'Hare) speaks to him. Ron pulls down his hospital dress in fear any gay man looks at him.Rayon also shares Ron's entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a buyers club, where H.I.V.-positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Ron's pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before. The Mexican doctor who gives him proteins and DDC, which may help him, has lost his license in the USA; as those drugs have not been approved by American doctors, so he isn't supposed to take them with him.Ron tries to smuggle them by he is caught by a border agent (Sean Boyd). Ron disguises himself as a priest and says that he is taking vitamins, not medicines. He sells the medicines on the streets. The drugs take a lot of time to be approved, so meanwhile, USA's doctors are prescribing medicines which can be considered poisons.Rayon wants to buy a cocktail of drugs from him, but finally relents because she says that Ron doesn't deserve that money, as he is a homophobic ass. Ron drives after Rayon and sells her the drugs. Rayon suggests Ron to sell the cocktail within a gay bar. At first, nobody pays attention to him, and Rayon tells him to smile, so he makes his first sale there.Soon Ron and Rayon strike up a partnership and they start selling admittance to a buyers' club, not anymore selling the drugs anymore. Dr Saks is worried about Rayon, who has just disappeared and changed address without telling her. They were on such friendly terms that Eve was even questioned about Rayon's fashion and dresses choices. She is appalled when Ron's address comes out as Rayon's new address.Eve visits Rom's apartment and she is appalled that he is giving treatment to so many people. Ron has even began to care about Rayon's health and eating habits. At the supermarket, Ron comes across T. J. (Kevin Rankin) and introduces him to Rayon. Ron has to force him to shake hands with Rayon.The queue of sick people is visible from the road. Not everybody can pay the 400 dollar membership fee anyway. Ron doesn't want Rayon to sell when high. She is a bit unpredictable because of her addiction to cocaine.He travels to Japan to talk to Dr Hiroshi (Joji Yoshida), who tells him that he was not aware of the regulations against exporting drugs. Mr Yamata (Scott Takeda) who would sell the drugs under the counter. At the airport, he is about to inject himself but passes off. His cop friend learns that Ron has AIDS.The doctor tells him to stop selling unknown drugs which have provoked a heart attack to him. An FDA Customs agent (Carl Palmer) tells him that he'll bust him if he can. Saks has even referred some of his patients to Ron.Ron makes love to somebody while everybody is waiting up. Rayon's addiction increases. A news Anchor (Rachel Wulff) talks about demonstrations demanding medicines to be approved sooner. The FDA confiscates many drugs present at Ron's apartment, but they let him go with only a fine. Ron tells Rayon to stop shooting up or it will kill her.Eve and Ron have a date and they talk about their pasts. Frank Young (Himself) appears to TV to address the problem but he doesn't say anything important and even Rayon dismisses his words. Rayon is extremely thin; she starts coughing and a friend of hers (Sunny, played by Bradford Cox)) takes him to hospital. Eve Saks sees her on hospital with nurse Frazin. Eve holds Rayon's hand, while Ron fakes Eve's signature on prescriptions. Nurse Frazin calls security when Ron storms in Rayon's hospital room and threatens his doctor - Rayon's dead.Ron calls in a stripper (Neeona Neal). Both Ron and Eve are very affected by Rayon's death. The FDA keeps on putting pressure on him taking away his drugs. He goes to a conference by the FDA, which will allow him to use drugs for personal use, something which is considered a success.Ron dies in 1992, 7 years after he was first diagnosed.

Tags: dramatic, inspiring, flashback

Review:
In The Dallas Buyers Club, we actually get two incredible transformations that lead to two stunning performances.Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto each lost approximately 40 pounds for their respective roles as Ron Woodroof, the redneck, three-way loving, alcoholic, drug-addicted electrician/rodeo cowboy; and Rayon, the sensitive, street-savvy, would-be transsexual so desperate for a kind word.
A raw, gritty, and incredible true story about a HIV diagnosed man who went to extraordinary lengths to survive at a time when the AIDS epidemic was at it's worst.Matthew McConaughey who lost a significant amount of weight to play the role gives the performance of his career along with Jared Leto who's equally as good here.
During the process, Ron battles the medical field and the law in order to prove how beneficial his buyer's club is.Based on the true story of the real Ron Woodroof, Dallas Buyers Club follow one man's actions on his mission to survive and how he started a revolution in a time when HIV/AIDS was a major issue.
The film does jump around quite a bit, but it does so for the sake of the story and the events that are to come, and through every major point in Woodroof's life and battle with HIV.Among the cast is Matthew McConaughey who easily gives the performance of his career as the blunt and clever Ron Woodroof.
In addition to the organized group protests, individuals also did their part and the determination of one unlikely crusader, electrician Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a homophobic "good ol' Texas party boy," is the centerpiece of Jean Marc-Vallée's gritty and hard-hitting Dallas Buyers Club.Written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack and based on real events, it is the story of Woodroof's personal struggles after being diagnosed with AIDS and his efforts to spread public awareness of the disease and help reduce the suffering and extend the lives of AIDS patients.
Though the film's depiction of Rayon does little to break the gay stereotype, their mutual engagement in helping AIDS victims helps Ron see his business partner in a different light than on their first meeting.With the help of a sympathetic doctor, Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), Rayon and Woodroof work together while dodging Food and Drug Administration enforcers and the wrath of the pharmaceutical companies.
Undoubtedly in the most outstanding performances of their careers Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto are my favorites thus far for bringing home the goods at the Oscars for the nominations of Best Performance of an Actor in a Leading role and supporting roles respectively in the bio-drama DALLAS BUYERS CLUB.If you had suddenly being told that you have only 30 days to live and that you have to make peace with this information how would you react?
May it be money, may it be his human instinct to live, Woodroof along with Rayon (Jared Leto) did not give up which invariably resulted in the opening of the DALLAS BUYERS CLUB ; a business that dealt the FDA unapproved medication to HIV patients.Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee has difficulty in controlling the rhythm of the screenplay and is wobbly at first.
- McConaughey and Leto respectively won the awards for Best Actor/ Supporting Actor at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards.TITLE: DALLAS BUYERS CLUB DIRECTED BY: JEAN-MARC VALLÉÉ STARRING: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, JARED LETO &JENNIFER GARNER RATED: R RATING:07/10 RUNTIME: 117 MINUTES.
The film, based on a true story, tells the story of Woodroof's fight to stay alive against the ravages of Aids in the mid-80s: he refuses to lay down and die, as all the doctor's predict, and goes on a one man crusade to identify and bring into the country - against the US Food and Drug Administration's approval - experimental drug combinations that will prolong his life.
This sets up a devastatingly powerful and emotional story.Also of note are McConaughey's two supporting actors: Jennifer Garner as his doctor friend Eve and (particularly) Jared Leto as his transsexual friend Rayon: receiving a well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.A word of caution for those easily offended: Dallas Buyer's Club features extensive sex and drug taking scenes, and whilst not as extreme as "Wolf of Wall Street", this is also perhaps another one not to take your maiden aunt or squirming teenage son/daughter to see.
Matthew McConaughey is barely recognizable as Ron Woodroof, an electrician/womanizer who ends up finding out he's contracted HIV/AIDS and has 30 days left to live.
After searching deeper for information on a relatively unknown disease (at the time), he finds out that there is existing medication that is not yet approved in the U.S.A. that could help him survive longer.However, after running into red tape when trying to obtain medication, he decides to smuggle massive amounts of pharmaceutical products and starts selling them to other HIV/AIDS infected patients, creating the "Dallas Buyers Club".First of all, what a film.
'DALLAS BUYERS CLUB': Five Stars (Out of Five)Another likely Oscar contender is this biographical drama film starring Matthew McConaughey as an electrician/rodeo bull rider, named Ron Woodroof, who contracted AIDS (in Dallas in 1985) and started a business supplying many other victims of the deadly disease with the (unapproved) medication they needed.
The film begins in Dallas in 1985 when Ron Woodroof (McConaughey) is told by doctors, while seeing them about a work injury, that he is HIV+ and only has 30 days left to live.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)What starts as an interpersonal drama with Matthew McConaughey leading the way, ends up as a more hard-hitting social message film with historical roots.
Beautifully rendered and truly filled with drama.If the two actors deserve the most credit (and by extension the leading woman, a doctor played by Jennifer Garner, does not), the director needs to singled out here for capturing the feel of the times and the place (Dallas, filmed in New Orleans) so well.
Playing Ron Woodroof, a homophobic electrician that contracts HIV in the 1980's, the 43-year-old actor has tapped into an extraordinary and found humanity within a character that is often times unlikeable but continue to root for.Vallée's direction of the story is impressive.
Two co-stars, who are always great to see as the expand the filmography, is Denis O'Hare and Steve Zahn, both impeccable in their minimal roles.As a whole, "Dallas Buyers Club" is competent filmmaking executed by two outstanding performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
With outstanding performances of Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club" is definitely a must-see!.
Our anti-hero plans to show the public they're being poisoned, cheated, and lied to by an agency driven by profits and not the greater good of the American people.Our anti-hero is Ron Woodroof, played, once again, by a stellar Matthew McConaughey, who has finally earned enough money where he can partake in films with ambition and a fabulous storyline (kind of like the opposite of Robert De Niro).
He is assisted by the likes of a transgender female (Jared Leto, in perhaps the riskiest role of his career) and viewed uncertainly by his physician (Jennifer Garner), who is conflicted whether or not to allow him the luxury of running a buyers club, providing people with unapproved but helpful drugs, or to keep patients coming back to her hospital to provide them with sub-par care and assistance.The writing team of Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack rarely take a wrong step in portraying Woodroof as a contemptible, but admirable man hungry for life, not survival.
In a country driven more by pharmaceutical sales than ever before, the case should be made for several kinds of alternative medicine, and having Woodroof's story portrayed on film is liable to spark conversation and even a debate about the benefits and the need for other options.A scene in Dallas Buyers Club explains why this was tricky then and is even more tricky now, with corporate profits being at the forefront of concerns most of the time.
Between a fearless and completely believable McConaughey as the lead, to Jared Leto's sensitive and heartbreaking performance as a man already ostracized in society with additional huge problems, the talents writing team, the equally intelligent director, and the softly-colored visual palette of colors, the film succeeds on nearly every level in terms of a biographical piece, an interesting drama, and, once more, the story of an anti-hero we simultaneously love and hate.
The film's trailer included an amazing song by the band The Heavy titled "What Makes a Good Man?" and I simply can't think of a better song to summarize this movie's subject matter and greatness in terms of intimate focus on a character with a poor personality but a strong mentality.Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner.
When the movie started I was blown i saw Matthew McConaughey this much skinny,it reminded me of Christian Bale from The machinist.The lead character Ron Woodroof represents a local hotshot who lives careless bachelor life and doesn't give a damn what other people think about him.When he diagnosed with AIDS,everyone thought he might've engaged in homosexual activity and they all started to keep their distance from him which actually happens in our real life.You know when i first heard about AIDS,all i heard was it occurs because of unprotected sexual activity and other stuff.Very few people accounted the other facts like sharing the same injection syringe with other people.In this movie we actually see how society reacts to this kind of problems and only look for the worst fact.This film also portrayed our hatred toward homosexuals in the 80s.Jared Leto played Rayon's role incredibly,i don't think anyone could've done it better.I'm eagerly waiting to watch him in suicide squad.Ron is a self motivated and optimistic man.When he found out that he has AIDS,he researched and began to try every possible med or treatment he could find.Thus,He went to Mexico and when he started feel better and saw that people like him are dying because of wrong treatments,he decided to stand against the FDA.We see that how pharmaceutical companies bribe Drug Administration to push their drugs despite its lots of dangerous side effects.its pity that this kind of corruption actually happens around us and we are the victims of it.Eve(Jennifer Garner) represents those doctors who value the patients life more than anything and protest against pharmaceutical company's conspiracy.It was very clever of Ron that when he came to know that he cant sell those approved drugs,he established "Dallas Buyers Club" with the help of Roney.Later he became less concern about money and tried to provide treatment with his money.In the end he fought for legal right to take protein but the judge couldn't do anything but admonished the FDA for their corruption.
Much of the credit for giving this factual based film 9 out of 10 is due to the amazing acting from the leading role man Matthew McConaughey, portraying the aids infected alcohol and sex addict Ron Woodroof in a most convincing way.
Most actors try their best with every role they take on, but then there's that rare opportunity that requires a physical transformation into the character, and Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto take on the challenge by taking off nearly 80 pounds between the two of them.
Leto is a revelation too and deserves the accolades coming his way.Dallas Buyers Club may not be the authoritative story on the AIDS scare of the 1980s, but it's as good as any.Ron died in 1992, seven years after he was diagnosed with HIV.
Dallas Buyers Club is a fantastic movie with a very well developed storyline and an outstanding cast.The movie is certainly depressing and emotional as we are taken on a very serious journey with Ron Woodroof.It's based on a true story and both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto convey a sense of real people,even with the weird and unique characters they played,and they both very much deserved the Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Supporting Role.Acting and story is certainly the main factor of this movie,there isn't a huge budget,which is what impressed me the most with these actors taking a huge risk doing this very different film.Unique and dramatic,Dallas Buyers Club is an outstanding movie that will surely withstand the test of time,I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good drama or biography.
McConaughey lost an amazing 47lb to take on the role of real-life Texan electrician Ron Woodroof and deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Actor for totally inhabiting the part.
But it's McConaughey and Leto that deserve all the praise, which thankfully they got.The movie is based on the real life story of Ron Woodroof.
Dallas Buyers Club certainly deserved all of its Oscar nominations and wins, it has powerful performances and an emotional story, one of 2013's best movies.
Thanks to a thoughtful approach by director Jean-Marc Vallée and career defining performances by stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, it transcends bio-pic clichés and "disease of the week" melodrama to deliver a story that is ultimately about the strength of the human spirit and the importance of taking matters into your own hands.'Dallas Buyers Club' is not a great film, but it is a very good one, and one worth watching for reasons beyond mere entertainment value.
There's no question the bulk of his praise comes unwarranted from simple-minded audiences who believe it's impressive and brave for a straight man to play a transgender character, but he does a lot of things well in the role that the attention isn't completely misguided.Nothing that director Jean-Marc Vallee ("The Young Victoria") does is especially noteworthy, but "Dallas Buyers Club" is a tight and well-told package of a film that utilizes strong storytelling technique and editing and provides some insight into a period of all-too-recent history.
Both Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey achieved perfection in their roles, playing parts from malnourished drug-addicts to suave and charismatic businessmen.These, among other masteries and small perfections were what made Dallas Buyer's Club such a joy to watch..
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club is undoubtedly one of the year's best films.Ron Woodroof is an electrician, as well as a rodeo cowboy.
With the help of a trans-gender named Rayon(Jared Leto), Ron Woodroof starts the Dallas Buyers Club to help all AIDS patients in America.
'Dallas Buyers Club' tells the true story of Ron Woodroof and his efforts to get alternative medication to AIDS patients in America.
This heart wrenching chronicle of one man's desperate attempts against all odds features marvelous performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.It is 1985 in Dallas, Texas, and rodeo rider, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), has an accident and ends up in the hospital where he learns he has the HIV virus which causes AIDs, a death sentence which, according to his doctor, gives him thirty days to live and put his affairs in order.
I also liked Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto in the supporting role.Dallas Buyers Club belongs to Matthew McConaughey who leaves no stone unturned with a brave performance.
As has been said, Dallas Buyers Club is a movie that depends on the hard hitting performances of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
But nothing is straightforward and the disease that will end his life just might save his soul.Based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, Dallas Buyers Club is an insightful reflection of the good that came out of something and someone rotten.
The final scene is ludicrously over-the-top but perhaps forgivable as an attempt to end this morbid movie on a brief high.DALLAS BUYERS CLUB succeeds at every level, entertaining us with the sheer pace of its story, overwhelming us with the mesmerising acting by Matthew McConaughey (who deserves all the awards that are coming his way) and vividly reminding us of the fatal ineptness with which successive administrations and the pharmaceutical companies responded to the challenge of HIV/Aids..
Dallas Buyers Club is a very compelling film about Ron Woodroof, a homophobic, yet intelligent redneck who is diagnosed with AIDS and has only 30 days to live.
But as AZT makes sufferers worst, the DEA and FDA targets Woodroof and his Buyers Club.Dallas Buyers Club is a superbly acted film, deserving of the nominations McConaughey and Jared Leto have received.
Jennifer Garner too was excellent in the film as a doctor who supports Woodroof and Rayon (Leto) and it is a shame she has not received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.Director Jean-Marc Vallee and writers Craig Borton and Melisa Wallack do an excellent job at showcasing the period and culture of the time, showing the rampant homophobia and lack of understanding about HIV and AIDS with people thinking only gay people catch the disease and people can catch the disease in the most minor way possible.
Discovering that AZT is actually harmful, he switches to other non-FDA approved drugs ddC and peptide T and partners with Rayon, a transgender woman (Jared Leto), and creates the Dallas Buyers Club, providing drugs to patients for a membership fee.Making his resurgence this year with a return to dramatic roles, Matthew McConaughey dives into the Ron Woodroff character with an incomparable passion and commitment in years.
I was amazed to learn that the movie is indeed based on a true story, and fortunately there was not a significant degree of artistic license used for the film.Matthew McConaughey is amazing in the lead role, and Jared Leto delivers an equally powerful performance in a supporting role.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) **** (out of 4)Rather remarkable story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a homophobic Texas man who learns that he's got AIDS and the doctors are only giving him a month to live.
Matthew McConaughey delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Ron Woodroof, a real-life Dallas electrician homophobe who was diagnosed with AIDS during the mid 80's.
But no doubt the strengthening endurance of the movie was the lively performance from McConaughey and from Jared Leto who plays Ron's homosexual business partner Rayon.
So for the most part, medicate yourself with acting greatness from McConaughey & Leto in the "Dallas Buyers Club".