‘Dallas Buyers Club’ screams of desperation, whispers of exploitation | review

jared-leto-dallas-buyers-club
(Focus Pictures)

In every way possible, Dallas Buyers Club is a film that screams of desperation (while whispering of exploitation). In terms of narrative, the focus is on people so desperate for some way to prolong their lives that they will take any combination of pills at any price and those willing to take that money for those pills. Outside of the narrative, the characters of Ron Woodroff and Rayon offer the “gritty” (meaning ugly), physically transformative and redemptive performances that are in such vogue with Academy members, following Milk, Philadelphia and other such films, along with the anti-prescription drug sentiment of the current zeitgeist. Much of the movie is quite good, including the story and performances, but it loses something in its blatant attempt to be meaningful. It’s made more for a need to win Oscars than tell a story.

The film wastes no time in establishing its grit with an opening sequence where Matthew McConaughey goes from a torrid, panting threesome under the stands of a rodeo, to pushing his bull-riding compatriots into large bets and running frantically from the angry mob when those bets fail, to finally getting a busted nose. It’s a sequence that very nicely establishes Woodroff and the world he occupies. Even before the evitable downward spiral, his life isn’t exactly sustainable or, for anything more than a few fleeting hours, enjoyable. All of which makes the audience wonder why we should care for this character or his story. However, this atmosphere is a big part of what works about Dallas Buyers Club.

The other, bigger part is the lead performances. Both McConaughey and Jared Leto are physically unrecognizable, the former through dropping a reported 45 pounds and the latter by taking on the facial features and body language of a druggy drag queen. Jennifer Garner as well goes the unglamorous route to a good performance as a well-meaning but powerless doctor. Despite his physical transformation, Woodroff remains the cocky character that McConaughey typically plays, only this time with an extra dose of creep and homophobia, his inevitable redemption coming in obvious and exploitative ways. Woodroff is less martyr than opportunist, and the movie follows suit. McConaughey plays the character very well, so well in fact that it’s a shame the role is such a clear example of Oscar bait, with only one box left unchecked from the Things Academy Voters Love. Leto on the other hand, while also good, if a little less so, checks off every box.

Beyond its desperation, Dallas Buyers Club doesn’t feel like a film that’s minutes short of two hours, and not in that way that there is just so much happening but in that the minutes just feel longer. Thematically the film plays the same FDA incompetence note over and over again, beating the audience over the head with this meaning while offering only passing rebuttals and antagonistic caricatures with much of the same motivation as Woodroff himself. It doesn’t so much make a point as beg for a counterpoint.

In all, Dallas Buyers Club is a well-acted, well-made film, the exact type that one can expect during the push toward Oscar season. It just doesn’t live up to the transcendence it so desperately proclaims.

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About Jess Kroll

Jess Kroll
Jess Kroll is a novelist and university professor born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and based in Daegu, South Korea. He has been writing film reviews since 2004 and has been exclusive to Pop Mythology since 2012. His novels include 'Land of Smiles' from Monsoon Books and young adult series 'The One' and 'Werewolf Council' from Epic Press.

4 comments

  1. It’s a shame that great performances no longer seem to shine as brightly these days when dulled by the notion that the actors merely took the roles to show off or win awards. From interviews and Matthew’s commitment to the film for an extended period of time, I choose to believe that all involved believed it was a good story and one that should be told. Should actors perform only adequately so as to avoid the bitter-sounding moniker, “Oscar bait?” It is not a perfect film by any means but it definitely deserves the accolades it is receiving… and, to my mind, Jared Leto deserves to be at the forefront of that recogintion not only for the performance but also for the interviews he has given in support of the film. Four stars.

  2. It’s a shame that great performances no longer seem to shine as brightly these days when dulled by the notion that the actors merely took the roles to show off or win awards. From interviews and Matthew’s commitment to the film for an extended period of time, I choose to believe that all involved believed it was a good story and one that should be told. Should actors perform only adequately so as to avoid the bitter-sounding moniker, “Oscar bait?” It is not a perfect film by any means but it definitely deserves the accolades it is receiving… and, to my mind, Jared Leto deserves to be at the forefront of that recogintion not only for the performance but also for the interviews he has given in support of the film. Four stars.

  3. Ah i’ve been waiting for ages to see this movie, it looks so good and Jared Leto is such a good actor

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