DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Grade: B

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner and Steve Zahn
Premise: After being diagnosed with AIDS, a Texas hustler starts an out-of-home business selling illegal international drugs known to reduce the symptoms of HIV.

Rated R for profanity and offensive language, explicit sexual content (including graphic nudity), depictions of drug and alcohol abuse, and some blood

You Only Live Once, or "YOLO", has become an increasingly-popular expression on social media the last few years, and, while it is seldom used appropriately, its meaning is quite clear. Another popular phrase is "I only have one life to live". And then there are the lyrics to an old Bon Jovi Song, "It's My Life": it's my life/it's now or never/I ain't gonna live forever/I just wanna live while I'm alive/It's my life!! Any one of these expressions perfectly capture the spirit of Ron Woodroof, the Texas-born and bred electrician/hustler played by Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, a new Oscar-nominated drama that just opened wide in theaters. Woodroof--a real person--certainly could have used YOLO to explain his behavior in life, both before and after he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 198. The hard-living Woodroof was a drinker, drug-user, rodeo cowboy and no stranger to threesomes, but when he got a major reality check at the hospital one day, his lifestyle changed a little, but it was still undeniably geared toward the idea that he, and everyone he knew, would Only Live Once. Director Jean-Marc Vallee's lengthy but interesting drama tells the story of one man's never-say-die attitude.

Plot
In the early '80s, little was known about AIDS except that actor Rock Hudson--a known homosexual--had died from it. Given his seemingly-unending lust for women, Ron Woodroof is certainly not a homosexual, so he's shocked when his doctors inform him he tested positive for HIV. Told he has thirty days to live, Ron wheels and deals enough to get a hospital orderly to sneak him a few jars of AZT, a new pharmaceutical drug being tested on AIDS patients. The medicine is soon being kept under lock and key, so the orderly, in lieu of giving Ron more AZT, gives him an address to a formerly-licensed doctor practicing in Mexico. Ron seeks out the doctor (Griffin Dunne) and finds that AZT, in large doses, is more harmful than helpful, but he is also given a few new drugs to take, albeit ones that are not approved by the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drugs help Ron, who realizes he's hit the jackpot, as these unapproved drugs aren't available anywhere else in Texas.

Back in Texas, he starts making a profit, but not until he has a chance meeting with a transsexual named Rayon (Jared Leto) do things really pick up. Rayon knows all the gay bars and hot meeting spots for homosexual men around Dallas, so, partnering with him, Ron's able to sell to his needy clientele, who can't get his drugs anywhere else. Soon, their out-of-home business is called the Dallas Buyers Club, selling drugs that are mostly proteins, herbs and minerals--all less toxic than AZT, which has begun to show negative affects on patients--and Ron dodges the "don't sell illegal drugs for profit" law by selling $400-a-month memberships, wherein members can get all the drugs they want. But even with the drugs, Ron's health is fading, and he's being constantly dogged by a suspicious police officer (Steve Zahn), a kind but shrewd doctor (Jennifer Garner) and a hard-nosed FDA agent (Michael O'Neill).

What Works?
Dallas Buyers Club works mostly because of its two male leads, both of whom currently seem on the fast-track to winning Academy Awards for their performances. At the center is Matthew McConaughey, whose gaunt, junky, white-trash hustler is a world away from the dumb blonde matinee idols he played in his How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days heyday. Having lost a rumored 45 pounds to play the worn and weary Ron Woodroof, McConaughey's so skeletal he resembles a bird from the neck up, and while his role isn't particularly showy, he brings a weight that's impressive and absolutely necessary to carry the film. Ron cries, hustles, rants and gambles, drinks, and seems so hopeless he's hard to root for (he washes his first two pills of AZT down with a swig of whiskey and a snort of coke, to give you an idea of his common sense), but, thanks to McConaughey's natural charisma, he becomes endearing. After all, even though all he really wants is money, he's helping sick people, and his tenacity in researching disease and different medications--not to mention marketing to different customers and drug providers--is admirable. And it's not all seriousness--Ron's blatant homophobia is played for laughs, such as his brusque reaction to a first meeting with Rayon, and his hunch-shouldered embarrassment at selling in a gay bar (when one of his customers eyeballs him, Ron dismisses him with a blatant "**** off").

In the much-talked-about role of Rayon, Jared Leto is terrific. I was worried how I would personally respond to the sight of a man in makeup and heels and stockings for an entire movie, but Leto won me over.
The writers deserve credit--Rayon isn't the typical prissy, effeminate movie/TV gay man; instead, he's written as, essentially, the Hooker with a Heart of Gold type so many women have played throughout the years (not completely unlike Jennifer Lawrence's fussy trophy wife in American Hustle). It's that kind of role, and Leto's voice, attitude and mannerisms (not to mention drag) are so good I found myself almost believing it was a woman, stealing all those scenes with feisty flair. Leto's performance--which includes one quietly-heartbreaking scene where he don's men's clothes for an important encounter--is a home run.

What Doesn't Work?
McConaughey and Leto are great, but Dallas Buyers Club doesn't have much to recommend it other than those two headlining performances. After a decent set-up, the movie's second half becomes a slightly tiring cycle of Ron getting new drugs, Ron fooling the authorities to get the drugs into the country and sell them, people buying the drugs, Ron and Rayon bickering, and the FDA showing up to take the drugs away, so that Ron has to rant and rave and then look for more. Cutaways to Ron's doctors (Garner and Denis O'Hare) discussing the progress of the drugs on patients don't help, mainly because a number of drug names are thrown around, and they're all acronyms, which becomes a little boring. Basically, this is a just-under-two-hour movie that felt like a two-and-a-half hour one, to give you an idea of its entertainment value.

Content
I mentioned Ron's lifestyle--that should give you some idea. Buyers Club is a hard R, with lots of nudity, a few montages of people (or threesomes) hooking up, not to mention Ron and others snorting drugs and doing their share of drinking. And if you're offended by homophobic slurs, watch a different movie.

Bottom Line
Dallas Buyers Club can be a tough watch, with a long, slightly boring, running time and very rated R content; that said, it's an interesting story, and I thought Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto vindicated their continuing Oscar buzz with memorable performances.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee
Written by Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack
Rated R
Length: 117 minutes