Dallas Buyers Club

          When Dallas Buyers Club was released to theatres I was not interested in seeing it.  There was something I saw in the commercials that turned me off.  It seemed as though the film was going to be crude, which is not my taste.

I began to become intrigued when Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto started to win all their awards.  However, my intrigue was not strong enough to actually go out and see the film.  Then my mom came upon a preview.  After seeing the preview, she told me Dallas Buyers Club might be worth seeing.  As I trust my mother’s opinion, I decided to give the film a try.  What I found out was I was right.  The film is on the crude side with its language and sexual content, but I don’t feel it was put in for shock value.  I suspect the language and sexual content in the film were accurate in regards to what was happening in that time.

All in all I believe this is a film people should see.  It is about a topic and events that people need to know more about.  The acting is well done and I can clearly see why Mr. McConaughey and Mr. Leto won their awards.  So if crudeness doesn’t bother you, or you can get past it, I highly recommend seeing this film. 

                It’s the 1980s and man’s man Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) has just found out he has HIV and only thirty days to live.  Ron denies the diagnosis because he believes HIV and AIDS only happens to gay men.  As he is extremely anti-gay and homophobic, Ron “knows” there isn’t any way he could have HIV.  Then Ron decides to do some research and figures out HIV is something anyone can get.

                After getting off a drug binge, Ron becomes determined to live longer than is expected.  With his friends not wanting anything to do with him, Ron has to fight alone.  He pays a hospital worker to get him AZT, a drug currently in trials to see if it will help those with HIV/AIDS.  But the AZT runs out and the hospital worker isn’t able to get him any more.  The best the hospital worker can do is give Ron the name of a doctor in Mexico.

                Before Ron can even think about going to Mexico, he becomes ill and put in the hospital.  While there he meets Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman who also has HIV.  At first Ron wants nothing to do with Rayon because she is everything Ron is against.  But after he leaves the hospital and goes to Mexico, Ron realizes Rayon is just the person he needs in his life.

                When Ron arrives in Mexico he is found to be extremely ill and close to death.  The doctor he has been looking for brings him back to health, but not with the expected AZT.  Instead the doctor uses a different combination of drugs, as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle, which are not approved in the United States.  The drugs, however, are not illegal, and Ron comes up with a scheme to bring the drugs to the U.S. and sell them to others with HIV/AIDS.

                This is where Ron comes to realize he needs Rayon.  He is not comfortable around homosexuals and they do not trust him.  Rayon is able to help Ron by being the go-between and bringing Ron more clients.                    

                Since it’s not legal for him to sell the drugs on the streets, Ron figures out a loophole so he can keep his business.  Instead of selling the drugs, Ron is going to sell memberships to a club.  For $400 a month members get all the drugs they want for free.  This works for awhile, until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gets involved.  They want to shut Ron down and will do anything to do so.  But no matter how much they hassle him, Ron remains determined to bring the drugs to those who need them.           

                As I said before, both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto did a great job.  But I have to wonder, if Mr. Leto were nominated for Best Actor instead of Best Supporting Actor would he have beaten out Mr. McConaughey?  I really think he would have.  That is how well Mr. Leto did with the character of Rayon.  Nothing against Mr. McConaughey’s performance, but there were many moments where he was quite outshined.

                One person I feel who has gotten lost in all the conversation about Dallas Buyers Club is Jennifer Garner.  She plays Dr. Eve Saks, the doctor who is truly trying to help those with HIV/AIDS and not just treating them as test subjects.  When it is clear the AZT is making people sick, she demands their dosage get lowered.  After she discovers Ron’s business, she doesn’t report him, but instead supports what he is doing.  She even stands up to the board of directors when they threaten her job.  Dr. Saks is the behind the scenes strength of this film that shows Ron that despite his experiences there are people in the medical community who care.

                While there are a lot of sad and sensitive scenes in this film there is one in particular that sticks out to me more than any other. It is the early days of the Dallas Buyers Club and Ron is still more about money than helping people. A man comes into the motel room to join the club, but he only has $50. Ron yells and kicks the man out because he doesn’t have enough money for the club. The man looks so pained because, like so many others, he is desperate to find anything that will help. This club is a glimmer of hope and Ron kills it with his actions. When I saw this I wanted to wrap my arms around this man and hug him. He really looked like he needed one. I don’t know what happened to this character because his situation is never revisited. Unfortunately I believe he met the same fate that so many did during that time. Without FDA approved medicine and a lack of money and sources for alternatives, the majority of people did not have any place to go. Thankfully medical science now has ways to help those with HIV live long and healthy lives. But that does not mean the fight is over. Until there is a cure for HIV/AIDS, the fight will go on.