Jean-Marc Vallée did it again! He made one of my favorite movie back in 2005, C.R.A.Z.Y (if you haven’t seen it you should definitely check it out, even if it’s in French Canadian). He comes back with Dallas Buyers Club, an amazing biopic on the life of Ron Woodroof. This closed-minded Texan, who after being diagnosed with HIV, decided to open a «Buyers Club» in Dallas, in order for adherents to self-medicate themselves. This movie is probably one of the best I’ve seen in 2013. The acting is right and true, it is beautiful to watch and touching: the whole package. There isn’t a single thing that I didn’t like.
Let’s first talk about Matthew McConaughey. Those last few years, McConaughey’s acting got better and better, as he stopped doing stupidly bad romantic comedies and started engaging in more serious roles. With Dallas Buyers Club, he gave the best performance of his career. His portrayal of Woodroof is spectacular and his level of dedication to the part (he lost a lot of weights to look like an HIV-afflicted man) places his performance on a whole new and very realistic level.
The character himself is very interesting. His development from a bigoted drug addict and alcoholic electrician to a leader for the liberty of choice and expression is simply inspiring. The closer he got to his death, the more he actually lived his life, opened up to others in need, and fought for what he believed was right. He was trapped in his redneck lifestyle, between the rodeo, his job, and the drugs, and needed a wake-up call. Being diagnosed with HIV is a rough call, but it allowed him to go on with his life and do what’s right. He continued to live despite being told he wouldn’t survive.
Jared Leto, who plays the very flamboyant Rayon, is also astonishing. After leaving the movie industry for 6 years, he comes back and completely crushes all of his competitors (and that includes Fassbender’s performance in 12 Years a Slave). Leto shines and is equally as good as McConaughey.
In the story, Woodroof’s denial of his death is gripping. You first think that he created the Buyers Club to help himself, with medication and money, but as the club develops, it is not about him anymore. It became about all of those who helped him and all of those who need those medications to continue to live. The fight for life begins when you know it’s about to end. It’s even more inspiring to know it is a true story and that hundreds of lives have been improved, even just slightly, by that man.
The movie depicts a very dark period in medical history, at a time where the AIDS epidemic was at its beginning and at its worst. Medics didn’t know what to do and chose to put forward a treatment instead of listening to the sick ones. Science and experiments over the people. It was treated as a disease that could be cured and not a deadly threat. Dallas Buyers Club settles a moral question that still exists now concerning incurable diseases: Is a treatment always the best solution? Shouldn’t we have the choice and the right to choose the way we want to be treated while sick?
Dallas Buyers Club is a lesson on humanity, how you can change and improve your life as well as the lives of others. McConaughey and Leto are my picks for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, and luckily, they will most likely win.
Rating: 5/5
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