1985. The AIDS crisis is at its peak. AZT has just been approved by the FDA to treat the disease. In Dallas, Texas, homophobia is the norm. This is the environment in which Ronald Woodruff (Matthew McCounaghey), a straight, chauvinistic electrician/rodeo cowboy, is told he is HIV positive. He goes through the first two stages of grief simultaneously: denial that it could be possible, and anger at his doctors for insinuating that he's a homosexual. But it's Ron's journey through bargaining, into depression, and then out again into acceptance that makes "Dallas Buyers Club" such a captivating film to watch.
The film is based off an article in The Dallas Morning News that chronicled the efforts of the real-life Woodruff to bring unapproved medication into Texas for himself and other HIV/AIDS patients as an alternative to the toxic AZT. McConaughey completely disappears into the role of Woodruff, shedding 50 pounds to play the dying man, as well as any prior image of himself as a romcom beefcake. As Woodruff, McConaughey delivers a career-best performance in a turn so free of vanity it's hard to believe it's the same man who played a toned strip club owner in "Magic Mike" just last year. His journey from bigoted drug addict to organic foodie philanthropist is cathartic -- if not always subtle. In one scene, he stands in a room full of butterflies, the insects landing all over his body. We get it, Woodruff is evolving before our eyes. But McConaughey manages to sell even the occasional misstep with his total commitment.
He's not the only one to give a transformative performance: costar Jared Leto ("Requiem For A Dream") also dropped significant weight to play Rayon, a transgender woman and Woodruff's unlikely business partner. As fantastic as McConaughey is, Leto very nearly steals the film from him. Rayon is certainly one of the most unique and memorable characters to appear on screen this year, and her struggles with AIDS, drug addiction and acceptance in the utterly transphobic South are fantastically compelling. She's a sympathetic, flawed, completely human character that Leto brings to vibrant life.
The film itself is not perfect. Aside from the heavy-handed approach to some critical moments, there are a few gaps in Woodruff's development, and the film certainly has no problem painting the FDA as a one-dimensional Big Bad in order to make Woodruff look like a heroic Robin Hood-esque figure. Jennifer Garner plays Woodruff's doctor, whose entire character can be summed up as "nice," and Denis O'Hare plays Woodruff's other doctor, whose entire character can be summed up as "not so nice."
The AIDS crisis has been chronicled on film before, most notably in Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning "Philadelphia" and in the HBO miniseries "Angels In America" but both of those took place in the (relatively) progressive Northeast -- accounts of the disease below the Mason-Dixon line have been woefully sparse in the mainstream thus far. "Dallas Buyers Club", as imperfect as it is at times, is an important and eye-opening story about the struggles of AIDS patients in the South, with all its hostility and paranoia, and it also contains two career-defining performances by a pair of fully-committed actors.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMPU0WaPcc[/youtube]
