Matthew McConaughey
Jennifer Garner
Jared Leto

Craig Borten
Melisa Wallack

117 mins.
Biography, Drama
November 22, 2013

Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, nudity and drug use. (MPAA)

Spanning from 1985 to 1992, “Dallas Buyers Club,” based on true events, chronicles the struggles of Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey) to find appropriate treatment for HIV/AIDS after being diagnosed with the disease and after using high-dose AZT that was stolen from a clinical trial to treat it. He finds ways to bring alternative treatments, from other countries, that are much less harmful than high-dose AZT to his fellow sufferers in Dallas.

During the opening moments of this film, the danger of Ron’s reckless lifestyle is depicted effectively. Director Jean-Marc Vallée uses transitions from music to sounds (for example, the use of the high whining sound heard by people who have tinnitus) to dialogue to complete silence. One prime example is when the reality of Ron’s infection finally sinks in for him during his library research time. First there’s silence, then there’s an explosive sound from Ron. Those transitions help to display his shifting mental states. Vallée’s experience shines through in those moments: He also directed “The Young Victoria,” which was his fifth film; this is his seventh.

There’s a disjointed rhythm to this film that works; it’s like experimental music. There are quick cuts, especially from the middle of the film on, and the proverbial hand-held camera style that keep the energy flowing. Yet the events are presented in chronological fashion, and the editing (also by Vallée under the pseudonym of “John Mac McMurphy,” along with Martin Pensa) and the writing (by Melisa Wallack and Craig Borten, who interviewed Woodroof one month before his death in 1992 to create the screenplay) are well-executed.

Both McConaughey and Jared Leto, who plays Rayon (a fictional transgendered woman and eventual friend and business partner of Ron’s), are the center of this film. They set a tone of seeming spontaneity without being over-the-top, despite their physical appearances. They’re perfectly cast, and they make this film work.

Jennifer Garner, who plays a fictional sympathetic doctor, misses the boat, once again (prime example: the “He was my friend, too” scene). Garner tries really hard to do a good job in everything she’s in, but, in my opinion, she never succeeds. Jennifer Connelly would’ve been a much better choice. She has an inherent strength and intelligence that would’ve worked as the perfect counterpoint to McConaughey and Leto. Thankfully, everyone else fits, though.

This is a deceptively well-made film, except for the ending, which seems cut-off.

Verdict: Very Good

About: (Source: dallasbuyersclub)

An imperfect man fights for survival during an uncertain time in America. Inspired by true events, Ron Woodroof’s story of strength is told in Dallas Buyers Club, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée from an original screenplay by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack. Spirit Award winner Matthew McConaughey portrays the real-life character, whose self-interest is galvanized into something much more.

A son of Texas, Ron Woodroof is an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence.

His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S., challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Eve Saks (Screen Actors Guild Award winner Jennifer Garner).

An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon (Gotham Independent Film Award winner Jared Leto), a transsexual who shares Ron’s lust for life. Rayon also shares Ron’s entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a “buyers club,” where H.I.V.-positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Ron’s pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before.