As much as I may dislike Matthew McConaughey, I can’t help but applaud his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club”.
While watching, this movie struck a few different chords. Hearing the multitude of homophobic slurs was jarring at times, but one must realize that’s how things were in the ‘80s, which is when the film was set.
The acting in this film was spot-on in terms of how I would imagine a homophobic Texan turned AIDS victim to be, though that’s not necessarily a role I spend a lot of free time thinking about.
For the role of Ron Woodruff, McConaughey lost 38 pounds. After seeing him in roles that made him seem like a male model of sorts, this emaciated AIDS patient look seemed all too real – which is exactly what you’d want for a performance like this.
And the plot itself was quite entertaining. The beginning moved pretty fast to establish the kind of bigot that Woodruff was and moves even faster into his HIV diagnosis, which would later turn to full-blown AIDS.
As it happens in quite a few films, the character development of the protagonist leaves us rooting for him more and more as the film goes on, while still disliking him at times.
For me, warming up to Woodruff was a slow progression.
Woodruff’s slow acceptance of the people he so strongly despised in the beginning was exactly how I would imagine it given the situation, and because it becomes forced.
It wasn’t so much that he was looking out for people with AIDS, but rather he wanted better regulation for the treatment. It was a self-serving kind of help.
For many adults in their late 30s and on, this was just a reminder of what the AIDS epidemic was like. But for us 20-somethings, a lot of this is relatively new.
Sure, we’ve read about it, but to see the life of one or two victims laid out onscreen produces a different reaction.
Overall, the film did everything a historical drama is
supposed to do. Best of luck
on Oscar night, Matthew.
