(2013, 117 min)
Country: U.S.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Studio: Universal
Language: English
SYNOPSIS: Skinny as a whippet and fierce as a snapping turtle, Matthew McConaughey brings a jolt of unpredictable energy to Dallas Buyers Club, an affecting if conventional real-life story of medical activism. The film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée from a script by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, tells the story of Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician and rodeo rider who, after receiving a diagnosis of H.I.V. in 1985, took his treatment into his own hands and helped others with the disease obtain medication not legally available in the United States at the time.
When we first meet Ron, he is enjoying the company of two women and preparing to mount an enraged bull. Flamboyantly heterosexual and crudely homophobic, he runs on cigarettes, liquor and arrogance, with an occasional dose of speed or coke to boost his confidence. He is a proud good old boy, but not an especially nice person. In time, of course, his rougher edges will be smoothed away by suffering and compassion, though he will never entirely lose his wild, profane lust for life. He is redeemed, but not fully sanctified.
-- A.O. Scott, New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com)
