DALLAS BUYERS CLUB – The Review

As we near the holiday movie season, it’s time to delve into fairly recent history. Not as recent as CAPTAIN PHILLIPS or THE FIFTH ESTATE, though. Let’s go back to a decade that’s getting a whole lotta’ nostalgia love these days, the 1980’s (hey, it’s the setting for the hit ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs”). But it wasn’t all ET, the A-Team, and Culture Club. A terrific documentary from last year, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, took us back to the early part of the decade when we all became aware of the AIDS epidemic. A pretty scary time that brought out the worst in many people. Intolerance and ignorance ran rampant. But, somehow it brought out the best in others. The new film, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, is a drama based on the life of one such man who somehow became a better human being as he confronted his own mortality. His compassion and ingenuity truly made a difference.

It’s 1987 and hard-partying, good ole’ boy Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) just can’t seem to shake this bug. He’s sweaty, losing weight, and coughing up blood. After a fuse box knocks him out (he’s an electrician at an oil rig site), he wakes up with two doctors hovering over him. And they’re wearing rubber gloves and breathing masks. Dr. Sevard (Denis O’Hare) gives Ron the bad news as Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) observes. He’s got full-blown AIDS and may have only a month to live. At first Ron is in denial. After all this is a gay man’s disease and he loves the ladies. But his condition worsens. Instead of getting depressed he gets educated. At the library he reads up on the ways the disease is spread. Then he remembers that one night stand with the track marks up her arm. Ron reads of some treatment breakthroughs down in Mexico. Traveling there he meets an American, Dr. Vass (Griffin Dunne) working at a clinic. Vass uses vitamins and drugs not approved by the DEA up north. Ron strikes a deal with him to transport and sell his treatments in the states (and send back the cash). But the gay community ignores the homophobic cowboy until he teams up with a transvestite prostitute whom Ron met in the emergency room, Rayon (Jared Leto). They set up a way to get the medicine out and create the Dallas Buyers Club. Members, after paying their monthly dues, are given the drugs. But the feds are on to their operation. How long before they get busted? For that matter, just how long does Ron have?

McConaughey follows up his stellar 2012 trifecta (BERNIE, MAGIC MIKE, and KILLER JOE) with this affecting performance as a man forced to change his way of thinking and even his way of living. He goes from ranting and railing about “them queers” to treating the gay community with respect and dignity. Much has been made of his appearance (and the weight loss is astounding), but hopefully this won’t distract viewers from his evolution as an actor. The “next hot thing” of the 90’s has decided to step away from the silly rom-coms and tackle challenging complex roles, although we get a bit of his laid back charm as he tries to evade the feds. And he gets superb supporting work from the amazing Mr.Leto as Rayon, who could have easily been a campy cowgirl Camille, but he shows us the wounded, damaged soul beneath the wigs and feather boas. A scene in which he must dress down (the three-piece suit and tie seem like a straight-jacket) and beg his button-down Dad for money is heart-wrenching. Not only must he fight the blood disease, but he also must push aside his addiction. The exchanges between Ron and Rayon crackle with energy turning this film almost into (dare I say?) a touching “bro-mance”. I wish the chemistry were as strong between McConaughey and Garner. Her lady doc goes from playing by the rules to becoming a cheerleader to Ron and his club perhaps too quickly. The film often seems to be hinting at a chaste romance between the two, but backs off abruptly. Garner displays her considerable emoting skills, but the role is underwritten. Ah, but kudos for the great turn by the rarely seen Dunne as the rebel doc who’s full of wisdom and scraggly charm. Happily there’s also Steve Zahn as Ron’s cop buddy and energetic work by Kevin Rankin as another old pal who’s far from supportive.

The film is briskly directed by Jean-Marc Vallee who keeps the timeline clear (helped by title cards counting the days from Ron’s fatal diagnosis) and guides this exceptional cast. He perfectly captures that period of time when HIV was almost a modern-day scarlet letter eliciting blind hatred from the ignorant. And he doesn’t shy away from ravages of the disease (the use of a high-pitched piercing buzz to denote its attacks on the brain is highly effective). Vallee also makes excellent use of the Texas locales. Like many of the holiday films, this depicts a brutal time in history, but it’s essential in capturing the very high stakes in this compelling drama. All fans of great movie storytelling should head down to the cinema and consider joining the DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. You just may see that Oscar guy at a future meeting.

4 Out of 5