Nothing Can Kill Ron Woodroof - Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical drama film directed by Jean Marc Vallée, about the AIDS epidemic during the eighties, and about a group of people who started up a buyers club, smuggling antiviral drugs into the united states from Mexico. The film stars Mathew McConaughey as Woodroof , a man diagnosed with AIDS who is given 30 days to live. Jared Leto stars as Rayon, a pre-op transsexual who joins up with Woodroof in the buyers club, also featured is Jennifer Garner, who plays a doctor treating AIDS patients at the Dallas Mercy Hospital.

The film uses an interesting narrative structure, the movie is divided into chapters based on the time elapsed since Woodroof's HIV diagnosis, there on the film uses titles to tell us how much time has elapsed since the diagnosis, which drives home the idea of Woodroof only having 30 days to live, and his fight for survival. The film tells an interesting side of the AIDS epidemic, and presents two facets of the community who were affected by the epidemic, yet whose stories are rarely told, straight people and transsexuals, their stories are just as important, and this is a film which gives them a voice without making it seem like they were the sole saviors of that era.

The film succedes in large part due to it's interesting narrative structure, strong direction and filming, and its diverse and talented cast. Both Leto and McConaughey give phenomenal performances, with both being frontrunners for the Oscars. McConaughey's performance is visceral and powerful, and he successfully plays a man who is conflicted and ignorant, and who is desperately struggling for survival in a world which has become unaccepting of him. I have to credit Matthew McConaughey (and my friend Orla for pointing this out) for successfully shedding his romantic comedy persona of the mid 2000's, and managing to become seen as a serious actor these past few years, descending into Rom-Com territory is usually a one way journey, yet McConaughey has successfully managed to rise from the ashes. Jared Leto also gives a simply stunning performance as Rayon, a transsexual woman who is trying to find her place in the world, as well as her place within herself, and who joins with Woodroof in an attempt to stay alive, no matter how loathsome she finds his personality, Leto manages to be perfectly convincing in his character, and it is impossible to imagine Rayon any other way, such is the power of his performance.

Dallas Buyers Club is a film about trying to survive, about fighting for life in any way possible. Dallas Buyers Club tells a story about a side of the AIDS epidemic that we haven't seen before, and succeeds due to it's strong direction and powerful performances from Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey. Dallas Buyers Club is a powerful story about a fight for life, no matter what obstacles come in your way. Rating:A-

Ron Woodroof: Welcome to the Dallas Buyers Club!