On Dallas Buyers Club

All films are about something, but Dallas Buyers Club is a film about issues and issues that matter. Within a biography (of Ron Woodruff) the film addresses, without favouring one over the other, the story of Woodruff from his diagnosis with HIV to the end of his court battle, with a biting criticism of the American health care system and a recent history of homophobia. The balancing act is impressive. 

The budget, comparatively with US films at the cinema staring mainstream actors is minuscule, and this shows on screen and adds a certain underdog charm that parallels the battle Woodruff engages in with the FDA, a battle we know he is destined to loose, despite wishing otherwise. This isn't Erin Brockovich (2000). Here the more common story is told, the story where big business wins.

Set in the 1980s Dallas Buyers Club can trace the rise of HIV and the Aids virus and the growing homophobia that swept across America. As with all the issues the film addresses, Matthew McConaughey's character encompasses them all in what will be a highlight of his career. McConaughey, with great subtly moves Woodruff from seeing his fellow HIV sufferers as hard cash into genuine sympathy and empathy, becoming an outraged public fighter; he simply claims at one point, with a mixture of exhaustion, disbelief and supplication that "people are dying". His outrage is all the more vicious as he's an outsider, a straight man with a 'gay' disease.  Where his fellow sufferers appear battle worn from the homophobia they've faced and still face, Woodruff is fresh for the fight, especially as he comes from the other side. 

McConaughey's performance has been rightly lauded, yet he is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. The transition in McConaughey's career has been clear with the choices he has recently made although a look back over his CV shows an actor unafraid to take risks, A Time to Kill (1996), Contact (1997) and Tropic Thunder (2008) where he lampoons his persona to name but a few. Yet Dallas Buyers Club is and will remain a highlight both for McConaughey's and everyone involved. A small film deserving of a big audience.