Dallas Buyers Club Review

It's one of my principles or even a mission to watch all the Oscar contenders if possible prior to the event. I don't like being limited by my prejudice when I watch only 1 or 2 movies and thus don't know anything about the rest. So naturally I want the ones I watched to win because they are the only ones I can actually form an opinion on. By watching everything I can form a much less biased opinion about which actor or movie should win a specific award. Besides it's also a good leisure activity.

Well two days ago I finally got a chance to watch one of the nominees, Dallas Buyers Club. The movie is nominated for 6 Oscars. However the cast already won most notably Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. To be precise; Matthew McConaughey won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role whereas Jared Leto won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. I know Jared Leto from Requiem for a Dream and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in that movie so I was rather curious about his current project as acting is not exactly his primary job.

Well first things first let me briefly explain the plot of the movie. Matthew McConaughey's character Ron Woodroof, an electrician and a hustler and of course most importantly a homophobic straight man, is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days left to live. After going through period of denial he finally comes to accept his disease. After extensive research about possible treatments and medication he comes across a pill called AZT. However, this medication is still in clinical trial stage and not yet approved by the FDA. First he tries out this medicine by illegal means of course but when he has a heart attack and nearly dies from it he decides to seek out alternative medicine from a doctor in Mexico. After his near-death experience with AZT, he warns other people about the dangers of the drug and asks them to stop taking those pills. He decides to set up an operation where he acquires certain FDA unapproved medicine from doctors in various countries and sells them. Well not actually sell them but provide a full month supply with a membership fee. So simply anyone who pays 400$ per month to become a member of the club will get whatever they need for that month. During this operation he meets Jared Leto's character Rayon who later on becomes his business partner.

First of all the movie is really good. Will it win an Oscar? I don't think so. I'm afraid I still didn't get a chance to watch other contenders yet but I still don't believe Dallas Buyers Club will win Best Motion Picture. However I strongly believe that Jared Leto will win his category. I felt very personal with his character. He really affected me. I feel like I'm trapped in a body that I don't want to be in and sometimes it feels as if I'm only pretending to be someone I am not. As a result Jared's character was very personal to me and I really connected with him because I felt like knew what he was going through.

As for Matthew McConaughey, however talented he really is; I just never saw him Oscar worthy. But this movie completely changed my mind. So despite not having watched the performances of the other actors yet my best bet is that Matthew McConaughey has a high chance to win his category. I just loved all the layers of his character and how he successfully portrayed him. Witnessing his transition from a homophobe into a completely selfless person who would go to such lenghts to provide medicine to those in need was truly breathtaking. I also loved how he came to hate Jared Leto's character first but then after getting to know him personally he'd even start protecting him against his other homophobe friends.  

I should also point out that both of the actors lost significant amount of weight for their roles. During shooting Jared Leto actually stayed in his character till the project was completed. To simply put he lived and breathed through his character. To be perfectly honest with you I don't want to wait for another 5 years to see another Jared Leto movie. I hope he'll be more involved in acting, he's just too good for his talents to go to waste :|

Apart from the main characters I also want to complement Jennifer Garner and Denis O'Hare on their performances as medical doctors. I particularly enjoyed Garner's performance, I think she was really successful. This could certainly be one of her best work to date. As for Denis, well I've never seen him be sub-par at anything. He always gives the strongest performances.

When you have excellent acting and combine it with outstanding story, Dallas Buyers Club is one of the very few results you get. I am best known for my movie archives and enjoying certain movies for the second or even for the third time. Was Dallas Buyers Club that kind of movie? No, not for me at least. But it's precisely the kind of movie that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime.

If I had to rate this movie I'd give it 4.5 out of 5. Good luck at the Oscars, Dallas Buyers Club. You've certainly got my support.