Saw "Dallas Buyers Club" over the weekend. Liked it, but didn't love it. I learned a lot -- had no idea that these so-called clubs were how activists got certain unapproved drugs and remedies to AIDS patients in the early days when they realized AZT was doing more harm than good -- but movies with unsympathetic leads are always a tough sell. Despite being told he had just 30 days to live, Matthew McConaughey's homophobic hick character was so distasteful in every way that I really didn't feel too much for him until about 75 minutes into the film -- when he finally lets his guard down -- but by then the closing credits were getting ready to roll. I thought Jared Leto seemed a lot more awkward than I had been led to believe, but nice work by Jennifer Garner, who played a doctor sympathetic to the guys' cause. Curious if others saw it and what they thought.
Time to read this Slate article about how accurate the film was.
1 comment:
I saw this movie yesterday after reading about it on your blog. I am not a big Matthew M fan anyway so I was putting it off but nothing else was showing at the time that I was available.
I hated the movie. There really were few redeeming qualities to the show. The cinematography was awful, the editing was even worse. This should have gone straight to DVD release. There was absolutely no reason to see it on the big screen.
As for the performances, I wholeheartedly agree with your statements. The self destructive nature of the people presented were not helpful to the story. I kept on thinking--here is another opportunist who was milking everyone for what they were worth. By the end when the $50 boy finally saved enough money to participate in the club--I just didn't care.
As for the contribution to AIDS history, I believe that there are better stories to be told.
If someone feels that they must see the movie--wait until it comes out on the small screen and save your money.
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