Film Review: DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

If you think the Covid-19 pandemic is bad, it may help to recall when AIDS first hit the streets. To refresh your memory, the 2013 based-on-a-true-story Dallas Buyers Club brings it all back with a wallop. I passed on this film when it played in theaters because it seemed too depressing, and it turns out it is. But the fact that both lead actors, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, won well-deserved Oscars for their performances (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor) softens the blow of the film's dire plot.

McConaughey is especially memorable in his role as Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician and part-time cowboy who loves the ladies and thus is shocked by an AIDS diagnosis giving him just 30 days to live. He rejects this outright and storms out of the doctor's office, intent on proving him wrong. And he does.

Instead of dying, Ron sets about finding a cure for himself and others like him, eventually setting up a "club" for selling unapproved drugs he obtains in Mexico and other foreign countries, thereby extending the lives of hundreds of gay men who would otherwise die from the FDA-approved drugs that weren't working. One of those poor souls is Rayon (Jared Leto), a trans-woman Ron meets in the hospital who is a drug addict dying of AIDS. They eventually become close friends despite Ron's initial disgust and repulsion of Rayon's female lifestyle, he/she all gussied up in nail polish, makeup, high heels, flowing dresses and long hair.

Be forewarned, between Ron and Rayon there's a lot of coughing up of blood. There are also many scenes of nude dancing at topless bars featuring closeups of various bodily orifices, and three-way sex between unwholesome characters, so if you are prudish or sensitive about that sort of thing, stay away. Otherwise the film is a powerful reminder that pandemics come and pandemics go. Also, it's a chance to see McConaughey, a former sex symbol, looking rail-skinny after losing almost fifty pounds for the role (see photo). He is stunningly convincing as someone hanging out at death's door.