Dallas Buyers Club

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Dallas Buyers Club isn't selling much aside from some golden performances. The biopic about Texas-druggie Ron Woodruff (portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) started off strong, setting up the universe of the homophobic and morally loose Southerner very well. We worry about Ron's longevity when he is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. We are intrigued when we meet the transgendered Rayon (Jared Leto), and are interested to see what more the character will bring to the story. Unfortunately for Mr. McConaughey and Mr. Leto, the screenplay eventually lets them down, and the lack of dedicated direction causes the movie to sail into the terrifying waters of boredom.

The story starts in 1985, where we see a picture of Ron's life. He's the stereotypical deep-south native, sleeping with any girl he meets, spending most of his free time in bars, and putting almost everything in his body. He soon becomes sick to the point of passing out, waking up in the hospital where two doctors tell him of his infection. Ron reacts by storming out and proclaiming he's "not a queer."

Realizing his disease is killing him from the inside, Ron goes back to the hospital to get medicine, where he meets Rayon, an AIDS-infected patient. When Ron starts to feel even worse from the dugs given to him, he partners up with Rayon and begins to smuggle in drugs from Mexico that haven't been approved by the FDA. After Ron secures his own health, outliving the doctor's prediction of 30 days by several years, he sells the drugs to other AIDS patients in the area, charing $400 a month for unlimited medicine in his "Dallas Buyers Club."

Matther McConaughey and Jared Leto are being showered with awards and nominations by critics and associations alike, and they are very much deserved. Both went through immense physical changes to get into the frame of their characters and are immensely successful in their performances. However, if it weren't for the two male leads, there would be nothing impressive or noteworthy about this movie aside from the scenes that depict the corruption of the FDA, and to be honest, I've seen government corruption done better in a lot of other movies.

After the first 20 minutes or so of the Club's introduction, scenes become repetitive, and I honestly wondered why the movie was still going. For the story that it told, Dallas Buyers Club was too long. They might have been able to get away with the length had the screenplay been more clever with its content (showing more scenes of Ron's battle with the FDA, more on Rayon, etc.).

This movie isn't garbage, but it's a shame the first 40 minutes or so lead me to think there was a lot more good stuff coming my way. If it weren't for McConaughey and Leto totally immersing themselves into their roles, there wouldn't be anything worthwhile about Dallas Buyers Club.

Rating: 2.5/5