Culture

Grade: A -

Dallas Buyers Club tells the true story of Ron Woodrof, an HIV-positive hillbilly given 30 days to live and with no availability of effective medicines to change his fate. In a desperate attempt to extend his expiry date, and make a little money on the side, Woodrof begins smuggling unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into America for himself and fellow AIDS sufferers.

This is not your regular AIDS flick chronicling the plight of socially-liberated homosexuals fighting against the system (ala Philadelphia or Rent). Instead, our protagonist is a homophobic, small-minded redneck with a penchant for hookers and cocaine (think the Wolf of Wall Street, but in a trailer park). Dallas Buyers Club offers a different perspective on the AIDS epidemic of 80s America as we see it through the lens of a man terrified and repulsed by gay people. Matthew McConaughey is extraordinary as our anti-hero, holding nothing back in portraying Woodrof’s shocking lifestyle. McConaughey not only nails the character’s extreme bigotry and aggressive machismo, but also the desperation and vulnerability that occasionally spurts from Woodrof beyond his control.

In the wrong hands Dallas Buyers Club could have turned into one hell of a melodrama, but director Jean-Marc Vallee treats the material with minimal sentimentality and very few swooping violins, thank goodness. In particular, Woodrof’s transformation from a hillbilly caterpillar to an open-minded butterfly is so painfully gradual it avoids the usual pitfalls of the obnoxious “bad guy grows a heart” plotline so favoured by Hollywood. Jared Leto contributes to the subdued tone through his three-dimensional portrayal of Rayon, Woodrof’s transgender partner-in-crime, which was a breath of fresh air from Hollywood’s usual tendency to portray transgender people as only fabulous drag-queens.

The downside of this realism is that the film’s pace had a tendency to lag, and it took far too long to get to the major plotline of drug-smuggling. Nevertheless, there is enough excellence in this movie to make up for the pointless and is worth seeing for McConaughey’s performance alone. I’m sorry Leo, but I think you’ll have to wait another year for that Oscar.