Based on the story of Ron Woodroof, a heterosexual electrician who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 (when, in case anyone needs reminding, the disease was almost exclusively seen as a gay plague),
Dallas Buyers Club does an admirable job of involving us in the appalling environment of the time and indignant to the point of fury at the authorities who, in collusion with the pharmaceutical companies, denied sufferers the drugs they really needed to prolong their lives. Matthew McConaughey - an actor who, to put it mildly, divides opinion - plays a huge part in this: his performance as Woodroof, as he moves from enraged homophobe, through self-interested businessman profiting from those with HIV by selling them illegal medicines, to a final and deep fellow feeling with them, is immense. And that's not only because of his startling physical transformation for the role, into a shadow of the smugly corn-fed actor we know from before. For the first time, he's fully human and mesmerising, and rightly deserved his Best Actor Oscar.
It is a pity, though, that the script couldn't quite bring itself to address the complexities of the real-life Woodroof, who was in fact quite possibly bisexual, not homophobic and did not actually contribute a great deal to the furtherment of medication against HIV. But then, where would the uplifting story arc be? It serves best in the end as a reminder that big business in cahoots with government will rarely concern itself with ethics, and that society has moved on from darker times despite that hindrance.
7/10
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