Matthew McConaughey continues to impress with Dallas Buyers Club. He plays Ron Wooodroof, an electrician and part time hustler. We meet Ron when he looks a bit worse for wear and on the bad side of a betting pool. After an accident on a job site, he’s brought to a hospital where it is discovered that he has HIV. It’s 1985 and HIV/AIDS is a full blown epidemic. The moment his friends and co-workers find out he’s HIV positive, they turn their backs and make him a pariah. It’s a sad display of fear, ignorance and homophobia (Ron is heterosexual, but everyone immediately thinks he’s gay. He contracted the virus from a girl who used IV drugs).
Ron is a real stubborn guy. He fights like a cornered animal when he realizes he’s going to have to figure things out for himself. He does the research for current medical advances for the virus and asks to get on the trial drug program at the hospital. When he’s turned down and the dire circumstances for HIV/AIDS patients become clear to him, he makes it to Mexico as a last ditch effort. There, free of FDA restrictions, he manages to find some help. Ron sees his new goal, fighting the virus and the FDA at the same time.
The Dallas Buyers Club is the program Ron starts to help fellow patients (he lifts the idea from a buyers club set up in another state). Using a loophole to avoid being arrested for selling drugs, he charges $400 a month memberships where the person gets all the meds they need for the month. They are paying for the membership, not the drugs. This catches the eye of health officials as patients are going to him instead of the AZT drug trials.
It’s an incredible story, Ron was an amazing man who fought tooth and nail against a brutal illness and the red tape that claimed to be in the best interest of the people for many years. Incredible acting from McConaughey, a mind blowing, transformative performance from Jared Leto as Rayon (Ron’s transgendered business partner) and one of Jennifer Garner’s best roles as Dr. Eve.
With directing that gives the viewer a “fly on the wall” type perspective on Ron’s fight, I found Dallas Buyers Club to be a completely engrossing, compelling and touching tale of how the worst in life can bring out the best in people. Highly recommended.