Dallas Buyers Club

Director Jean-Marc Vallee has a short and somewhat eclectic resume, but in hindsight he was probably the perfect choice for Dallas Buyers Club what with his films heavily focused on relationships in both the straight and gay communities. Here we have Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a rodeo cowboy and electrician who, following admittance to hospital after an accident performing the latter occupation, is diagnosed with AIDS and given thirty days to live. However, on discovering there is (US unapproved) medication which helps improve his condition available in other countries, along with the help of fellow HIV sufferer Rayon (Jared Leto), he sets up a smuggling racket and distributes said drugs to other sufferers. This has been on the Hollywood slate since the mid-90's, but has only now found the financial backing. You can read into that what you will. Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack's script avoids clichés and addresses the attitudes of the time both blatantly (Woodroof is quickly ostracised by family and friends) and more subtly (at the start of the film the hospital staff wear surgical gloves and masks, which are slowly discarded as fuller understanding of the disease is made known). Jennifer Garner is good as a kindly doctor, but quickly gets lost amongst the tour-de-force performances of both McConaughey and Leto who, you'll be unsurprised to hear, both went method for this to capture the physicality of both their characters. In fact, both performances are so great the worthy subject matter gets a bit lost about halfway through and the film eventually meanders to a finish. On a side issue, the character of Rayon is actually a transgender woman which has to lead to complaints from various pressure groups that an actual transgender actor wasn't given Leto's part. Wrong though that may be, I'm afraid its just naivety to think that a dollar-chasing studio would have ever picked an unknown (regardless of sexual status) for such a prominent role. Going back to Vallee it's impressive he delivers such a solid production from a relatively small budget. With quick set ups and a one take only approach the order of the day this was wrapped in less than a month, which suggests a lot of studios and directors out there are missing a trick. Rating: 8/10.