dvd of the week
Dallas Buyers Club is the story of a man who fought the reprehensible policies of the FDA and the medical establishment during the worst of the AIDS crisis by selling unapproved drugs through a legally problematic buyers club. It is also the story of how a man was transformed from a womanizing, homophobic redneck drunk into a compassionate, responsible hero. The story is in many ways a typical triumph over adversity story, with an obvious structure and ending, and it is also typical in most of the Hollywood stories of the early AIDS epidemic, in which straight people are the heroes and gay people the victims. That said, it features two epic performances: Matthew McConaughey, giving the performance of his career, lost 38 pounds for the role and delivers strings of Texasisms, angry monologues, and mountains of expletives with the gusto and emotional honesty that his last few years as a character actor have only hinted at him being capable of. Jared Leto’s Rayon, a transgender woman who helps Ron run the club, is a more complete and more astonishing transformation. Leto not only is unrecognizable, which has a lot to do with his make-up artists, but the depth of his characterization is to be marveled at. Rayon is one of the most complex, interesting and affecting characters in any of the films about AIDS.
