Rating of
3/4
Review: Dallas Buyers Club
MikePA - wrote on 01/30/14
Damn! Matthew McConaughey is on a fucking roll. Ghost of Girlfriend's Past, back in 2009, must have been a bump to his head: "Hello! Are you in there!? You're better than this, dude!" So he is, and films he's made since than including Mud, Bernie, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Dallas Buyers Club certainly prove it. I also hear he's very good in the show True Detective. I haven't seen it yet but I plan to watch it.
Dallas Buyers Club is a slow film, slightly flawed and occasionally poorly constructed, but it's consistently compelling due to the two lead performances delivered by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. This whole film, which deals with fairly disturbing and dense subject matter, rests entirely on McConaughey's shoulders, and he nails it, bringing dark and provocative work with occasional light touches. His performance alone makes for an absorbing and unforgettable experience.
Jared Leto is phenomenal as the homosexual man, Rayon. The mannerisms, voice tone, and physical look of his character are all brilliantly executed by Leto. He also brings plenty of laughs to the sequences he shares with McConaughey's character, Ron.
Here is a beautifully acted and shot motion picture let down by its flaws. It gets a little bit slow around the mid point, and the filmmakers decide to drag the ending out slightly longer than it needed to be. A few crucial plot elements are rushed and poorly developed. There isn't much depth to the film. All of these problems are consistently present, but at least the film has personality. It's easy to enjoy, and McConaughey and Leto make it light-years better than it could have been had inferior actors taken the parts.
3/4
