Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Story: Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto
Time: 116 minutes
Bottom-line: Gets almost everything right

Out of the six Oscar nominations it received, Dallas Buyers Club won three. The film is not that great, but what make it great are the conditions under which the film was made. Jean-Marc Vallée took several unusual decisions, like choosing a relatively unknown cast, and more importantly, choosing a theme that is difficult to portray. The film is largely driven by the performances of McConaughey and Leto.

1985, Texas – Ron Woodroof (McConaughey) is an electrician cum rodeo cowboy, who is diagnosed with AIDS. The doctors say he has 30 days to live. He soon is fired from work and evicted. At the hospital, Dr. Eve Saks (Garner) tells him that they are testing a drug called AZT. Ron starts taking the drug, only to discover that his health gets worse. He starts buying drugs that are not approved in the US, and finds that his health improves. He meets a HIV-positive transgender woman, Rayon (Leto), who helps him in selling the drugs to other patients infected with AIDS. The two of them start the ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. How long does Ron survive? Does he get caught by the FDA and other organisations for illegal use of drugs? Watch the film to find out!

McConaughey as Ron Woodroof

With just two films (Mud and this one), McConaughey has captured the attention of people all over the world, who had known him for only playing lead roles in below-average movies. His commitment to the role and transformation are incredible. He lost 21 kilograms, put on a Texas accent and he carried a huge responsibility in the film, for the film is (as I said) largely performance-driven, and the film did not have any veteran actors either. So, as a breakthrough performance, this is one of the best ones I have seen. Admittedly, he has few moments of brilliance, but among the other nominees for the Best Actor Oscar, I felt DiCaprio and Ejiofor had done better. But I guess critics picked him for a couple of reasons - one, most of the other films were not entirely dependent on acting; two, other actors were already famous and had won many accolades. Leto’s role is the most challenging one – that of a trans-woman. He lost 14 kilograms, waxed his body and refused to break character during filming. Though he has the smallest amount of screen time among all the other Supporting Actor Oscar nominees, I think he deserved it. Both of them won the respective Oscars, making this the first film since Mystic River (2003) to win both. Jennifer Garner’s performance may be overshadowed by that of the lead actors, but I felt she did a good job too.

Garner as Dr. Eve Saks

The story is not that great; it is not slow or boring, but has many needless scenes, and the language is vulgar throughout. But first, I appreciate the director for accepting the script (which at one stage was one of the longest stalled scripts), for it is not easy filming a sensitive issue like AIDS. This is based on the life of Ron Woodroof, who is a real person, but the character of Rayon is fictional. There is some humour in the beginning, but after that, the film becomes serious, often dealing in several issues related to gender. So, it is not a comfortable watch, but that does not mean it is a bad film.

Leto as Rayon (Leto is almost unrecognisable, in my view)

The film also won the Academy Award for Best Make-up, which it deserved too. But the entire budget for make-up was just $250, and the budget for the film was only $5 million (which is relatively low-budget). The filming took only 25 days. So, though Dallas Buyers Club was made on a low budget, though it does not have any big star, and though it does not portray an audience-friendly topic, the film is superb. Watch for the stellar performances of McConaughey and Leto.

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%