Dallas buyers club

I have decided to write something about a recent film, Dallas buyers club. What can I say about it, the first thing that just pops up into my mind is Matthew McConaughey’s performance. First of all I am really pleased that a movie not being made from a very well known and established Hollywood director finally came out and won (1^st leading and 2^nd supporting male actor, the only movie that wins both awards after mystic river).

Matthew McConaughey had to go under an exhaustive diet loosing approximately 38 pounds (give or take 18 kilos), destroying his established male-charmer macho image and just giving his heart and soul into a unique role for his career that finally granted him the highly desired golden little statue that most of the actors dream of winning one day. Jared Leto is playing a woman trapped in the body of a man, drug addicted also suffering from HIV. But his performance was not as surprising since we have seen him before in ‘hard-core’ films such as Darren Aronofsky’s requiem for a dream playing a junkie. Probably a few will still remember him in fight club, ‘another good film dealing with fascism, insomnia and commercialism’ and in American psycho, playing second roles but still supporting them quite well.   What makes Dallas buyers club a winner and one of the best movies of 2013 is of course the performances, the strong issue about HIV the early days of discovery and the courage of a man to bypass the pharmaceutical system and claim his right to decide how to live the rest of his life. A short life, at least after the first diagnosis (30 days), eventually prolonged up to 7 years after showing a lot of courage and determination.  Ron Woodroof after diagnosed with HIV, decides not to follow the medical recommendations. He falls right after his diagnosis and his rejection due to his disease by his social circle into drug abuse and alcohol but after his degeneration which seems like a suicide attempt he decides to fight. He establishes a club to help other HIV sufferers distributing drugs that were not approved from FDA, travels the world to obtain alternative treatments (we see him in Mexico, Denmark and Japan pretending to be occasionally a minister or a doctor trying to smuggle drugs), test them on him, goes against the system and overcomes his homosexual fears by taking up his side Rayon (Jared Leto) as his personal assistant. The film deep inside deals with social fears and taboos related to homosexuality, the racism against HIV sufferers around 80’s when the virus was first discovered and narrates a true story about how a terrifically sad and devastating situation can finally make you a better person capable to overcome your fears.