Life's funny sometimes.
This is what you would call, "on a roll." Matthew McConaughey seems to be hitting it out of the park lately and his latest Dallas Buyers Club is no exception.
The year, 1985. Typical redneck/racist/homophobic/hustler, Ron Woodroof, goes about his business as an electrician and rodeo enthusiast. He likes his men manly, his booze followed by cocaine and his sex rampantly unprotected. From the opening, it is obvious he is not well as McConaughey lost 45 pounds to play the role, leaving him looking like a standing flesh bag of bones.
Turns out he is HIV positive with 30 days to live. He's none-too-happy about getting a "gay virus" and as his health declines, he's shunned by friends and takes his "F* all-y'all" attitude into ways of living by any means necessary. First it's by illegally getting his hands on AZT, then going to Mexico bringing non-FDA-approved supplements back to sell to the thousands afflicted.
The story is fascinating and the performances certainly award-winning - not only McConaughey, but Jared Leto is equally phenomenal as McConaughey's unexpected, cross-dressing HIV-positive business partner (who also lost 30 pounds for the role).
It's a great biopic of people trying to fight their disease while being persecuted by evil drug dealers. Enter the perfect villain: the federal government with crooked drug policies that ban supplements while allowing harmful drugs to be legal if you pay them enough. Which works great for pharmaceutical companies but not so much for patients.
Definitely worth a watch, Dallas Buyers Club is now available on DVD and therefore everywhere online enjoy.
