In 1985 electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof is diagnosed with HIV and having AIDS after an accident at work and blood test have been completed. This causes everything in his life to change, especially when the doctor only gives him 30 days left to live.
But how he manages to prove the doctors wrong, after they won’t actually give him any drugs to help prolong the condition and make him feel a little better he heads to Mexico where he meets a former doctor who has more of an idea what is good to put in your body. This causes an idea to be born and a money-making scheme which actually helps his fellow AIDS patients live that bit longer.
The main problem for Ron with this to begin with his is obvious homophobia and he hates that everyone puts him in that bracket suffering from AIDS. Therefore he cannot actually get anyone to buy the drugs, until Rayon becomes his business partner. We really do end up with some very amusing moments between the pair, who end up acting like a married couple. Did I mention Rayon is a transvestite? Also extremely sweet at the same time and an incredible performance from Jared Leto.
Ron gave people hope and to get around the system of becoming a “drug dealer” that is when the Dallas Buyers Club is created. He doesn’t just sell the drugs, he sells people memberships for $400 a month and they get as many drugs as they need. His knowledge of what to put in your body really becomes amazing as he reads a lot of research and even completed his own on his own body by trialling the different drugs. Mainly these were protein and vitamins but not approved in the US.
Obviously it wasn’t always going to be simple and straightforward when the doctors were in a scheme with the pharmaceutical companies to sell which ever drug makes them the most money. It turned out the drug they were pushing didn’t really help the AIDS sufferers. It is a hard-hitting film, it was always going to be knowing that people had to fight for a right to survive for just that tiny bit longer with something they know will eventually kill them. That does make it difficult to watch at times, but with Ron and the thought of others doing what he did it gives you hope that people don’t just give up.
An added bonus in the film for myself was Marc Bolan pictures and T Rex songs, I am sure a huge fan so to see that they were popular in the US at this time was brilliant. Plus some of my favorite songs being heard at times in the film, think it gave it another good edge.
The performance from Matthew McConaughey was absolutely incredible, you feel for him, you laugh at him but you feel sorry for him all at the same time in parts but most of all you admire him. He was not going to just fade away and die he was going to fight and live for as long as possible. Which is the best thing about Ron and something he done as well his 30 days were actually 7 years so I guess proving the doctors wrong in that sense was an incredible achievement. Not a surprise that he has been nominated for an Oscar for this role. The same with Jared Leto who I mentioned earlier, unreal performance he really does break your heart a couple of times.
We therefore don’t have long to wait to see if the two main performances in this film will pick up an Oscar, they have to be in with a fantastic shout to do just that though!