Dallas Buyers Club Review

Dallas, 1986. A homophobic cowboy Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey; MUD) is diagnosed HIV positive. All that remains is 30 days to live. Facing the ineffectiveness of AZT, the only antiretroviral drug approved in the United States, he began smuggling "alternative" drugs with the help of a transvestite also HIV positive, Radius (Jared Leto, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM , Mr NOBODY) and their doctor Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner, THE KINGDOM, JUNO). Together, they founded the Dallas Buyers Club, the first of the twelve clubs that allow HIV-positive Americans to obtain supplies of foreign antiretroviral drugs. But it draws the attention of pharmaceutical companies, which then will do anything to stop their activities.

In the short list of films nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is one of six (out of nine) that are adaptations of existing or based on a true story works. With a production budget four times lower than 12 YEARS A SLAVE eight times lower than AMERICAN BLUFF, but above twenty times lower than the WOLF WALL STREET, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is just as good - if is better. Proof that we can still make great movies without ever sacrificing scenario, distribution or technique.

Based on a true story so DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is a drama like America loves them, but not only. Offering an unstoppable eloquent social dimension, the new film by Jean-Marc Vallée (CRAZY, VICTORIA: YOUNG YEARS OF QUEEN) makes it possible to brew several important issues in the history of the United States. Whether homophobia, HIV status, health system, market logic or simply the American dream, everything happens and in a relevant way. Although initially without interest, the daily routine of Ron Woodroof turns out to be very addictive when it faces its own excesses and is rejected by his family, friends and colleagues, who learned his HIV status. Homophobic , he finds himself placed in the same bag as those he spent so much time to hate, a time when AIDS was considered "the disease of gays".

More than ironic and paradoxical , the destiny of this huge macho man ends up improved by the presence of a transvestite and a woman doctor. Despite the fact that he was given only 30 days to livethe determination of Ron offered him further seven years. Certainly very romantic, the story of the end of life is fascinating because unpredictable. Resourceful, cowboy amazes and forces almost admiration.


By positioning almost entirely from the patients side DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is  reminiscent of PHILADELPHIA by Jonathan Demme in which an HIV-positive lawyer is suing his former partners for unfair dismissal. Slightly Manichean, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB sets HIV positives as victims (of health system) and made the pharmaceutical industry the big bad wolf in this story. Nevertheless, it is a drama as we see little and pushes its narration into empathy and compassion. Indeed, although the fate of the two protagonists (Ron and Ray) is sealed from the beginning of the film, it is hoped all along that an event will save them and will brighten up this story. Because yes, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is a story of death.Beyond that of the protagonists, the film also evokes that of the American dream, the slow awareness related to HIV and AIDS and the loss of hopeful about the disease. Social drama, the film can be read as antisocial as he portrays an America which is not beautiful to see.

Small budget ($ 5.5M) does not mean _ small cast, Jean-Marc Vallée can rely on the amazing Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. After his comeback in 2011 in THE LINCOLN DEFENSE and the course alteration of his career that followed, Matthew McConaughey excels here in this role homophobic overtaken by death. Lightened of 20 kg, the 44 years old Texan surprises and impresses both when playing cowboy when his body failed him. Yes, no one falls down as Matthew McConaughey! Absolutely perfect here, he certainly gives us one of the best performances of the past year and the current one. Like a certain Jared Leto whose magnetism is stunning. Brilliant as a drug-addict transvestite. Unrecognizable as Rayon, he laughs and moves to the point that we come to wonder, "Who, other than Jared Leto, could have interpreted so well such a role? "Fourteen years after the sublime REQUIEM FOR A DREAM of Darren Aronofsky, Jared Leto plays again a junkie, an addict but that should enable him to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role . Breathtaking, the actor brings some freshness to this macabre drama. Finally, to complete this perfect tandem, Jennifer Garner is used to buffer between HIV positives represented by Ron Woodroof and the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA.

Assisted by an intelligent editing and intradiegetic sounds pushing into a total immersion, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB has a linear scenario. Fast in the evocation of what should only be evoked and slow, long and weighing when it needs to accentuate the imminent arrival of death, Jean-Marc Vallée's film is a beautiful ode to life, conscious enjoyment and relentless pursuit of happiness. At no time moralizing when it comes to sex, the film illustrates perfectly the expression "It does not only happen to others."
By confronting the universe of a highly manly cowboy and the one of a transvestite exceeded by the disease, he staged a predictable but no less touching friendship. Carried by two actors at the top , DALLAS BUYERS CLUB is a great film that makes react and think. And although forbidden to minors at its US release, the film remains the absolute must-see of the season!

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

117 min  |  Biography, Drama 

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Writers: Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto