The Case for Purchases

The Dallas Buyers Club has just won several Oscars for its leading characters - and deservedly so.

It really is a McConough-sance, as Mathew takes on the role of Ron Woodruff a partier afflicted by HIV who does all he can to obtain the drugs to keep him alive.

Along the way he encounters a Doctor (Jennifer Garner) disturbed by the FDA and its bureaucratic and perhaps corrupt way to find a drug that will help the AIDS sufferers, and Jared Leto as Rayon, a transvestite who also contracts AIDS.

It's all very well acted though oddly enough enough the story itself is a little less engrossing than the performances.  It starts off with a hiss and a roar - literally - with bull fighting and much machismo, and then, once Woodruff processes that he has AIDS, his energy is directed to finding drugs that may not be FDA approved but which are more efficacious when dealing with the symptoms.

It then gets a little murkier as the story widens to Woodruff's battles with the FDA and his growing contact and interaction with the AIDS community.  His drive and determination and capitalist spirit make him a kind of hero, though his interactions with others, even Rayon, are more superficial than really affecting.

Luckily, Woodruff's story is quite engrossing.  And McConoughy rightly deserves his acolades.  As to Leto, well, I was not convinced that his character was being rewarded more than his actual performance, but still, he does really well.

Verdict: The Dallas Buyers Club is a good movie made great by some amazing performances and a compelling story.  The style of the telling is perhaps a bit uneven and pedestrian, but it is definitely worthwhile and deserving of all its accolades.