Review of Dallas Buyers Club (2013) by Michiel S — 28 Mar 2016

So this McConaughey guy can really act, then? Alright colour me surprised.

Wait, Jared Leto should be taken seriously as an actor too!? *sigh* FINE THEN.

This film is really just a giant Oscar-net but, thankfully, there's nothing cynical or hollow about it- it's well-written, features a strong cast, and discusses its topic with realism and grit.

There's an honesty to this film that's quite striking, particularly given that it looks at characters who are so out of the normal. It would have been easy to portray them as heroes or villains and to add to the endless pile of 'true story' crap-fests that we see all the time. Instead though, we see a drama where the characters are presented as real human beings and WHY ON EARTH IS THIS SO RARE IN THE FIRST PLACE!?

This really is a performance-driven film and it's driven by multiple strong ones, as opposed to just one. McConaughey in particular did a fantastic job of giving his character depth without ever offering it at the expense of realism and Leto managed to prove that he was Rayon because he understood the character, not because it was another gimmick (and trust me, I went in fully-expecting to come out disappointed in his performance- sorry Jared).

The film's commitment to keeping grounded does make it feel a bit stale at times, as the story trudges along for a while before it ever really gets going. Still, it delivers enough to make it deserving of its praise and, more importantly, this film deserved to tell this story and that's a real honour.