When I heard that Dallas Buyers Club had done well on the Oscars (it won three!), I got even more curious about this movie directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. I first got to know about this movie, because Matthew McConaughey was casted as the lead actor and he went through a lot of effort to change his appearance for this role. I’ve always enjoyed watching him play, and with this interesting theme, I was definitely intrigued by this movie.
What the movie is about?
Based on a true story; Ron Woodroof, Dallas born electrician and hustler, gets diagnosed with AIDS and supposedly only has 30 days to live. The medication he is provided with from the doctors don’t really help him, so when he finds some non-approved medication that does make him better and makes him live beyond those 30 days, he works around the system to help other patients get the medication they need to survive.
What I thought of the movie?
Even though I had a hard time getting into the movie the first 30 minutes, I really loved it in the end. I feel like it really showed the struggles of people suffering from AIDS in those years, which I wasn’t aware of considering I wasn’t alive yet. I’m always grateful when I can learn a bit of history by watching a movie.
What frustrated me most in the storyline, was the lack of “enthusiasm” and effort the doctors showed to find a cure for this horrible illness. It was like they didn’t really care and while they were aware that other medication seemed to work better, they didn’t really want to put the effort into it to find out if it really was better and had the possibility to cure AIDS. And all the while the people suffering were really fighting for their lives, but were often just helpless. I really hope AIDS patients nowadays are helped a lot better than people were then.
Knowing that this movie was shot in only 23 days and with little rehearsal makes me even more dumbfounded by how brilliant Matthew McConaughey’s and Jared Leto‘s acting was. They both really put down an amazing appearance and I’m completely blown away by it. On top of that, they’ve also both lost a lot of weight for these roles, and the transformation is just brilliant. While I usually drool all over Matthew, the mustache he sported for this movie made me want to gag. But the weight loss; Respect!
My favorite character was most definitely Rayon, because one; “his” presence is a comedic relief and mostly because Jared Leto just did such an amazing job portraying this crazy gay transsexual. His transformation was nearly unbelievable.
On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed in the role of Jennifer Garner (Eve). It didn’t really contribute a lot to the story and I felt like she didn’t really come over as a doctor. There were some scenes that were really good played, so I think it’s more a storyline mistake than the fact that Jennifer didn’t play the role well.
One of the scenes I loved the most – spoiler alert! – was when Ron started defending Rayon (played by Jared Leto) in the supermarket to one of his old friends. It showed what a great way he had come since he had been diagnosed. In the beginning he was always openly insulting “the faggots” while now he strongly defended his gay friend. It really made me proud of him and I really liked this character development.
All in all, I really loved this movie and although I don’t think I’ll watch it again on my own anytime soon, I know that I wouldn’t say no if someone asked me to watch it again. It’s a powerful movie, with brilliant acting from the lead actors. A must watch if you can find some time!
Until next time,
With love, Ellen
According to Ellen 