Road to the Oscars: Day Three (Dallas Buyers Club)

I can handle your insults, but 5%?

25. Take it or leave it.

For those of you who read my February favourites post a couple of days ago, you'll know that Matthew has been absolutely blowing my mind lately. With work like True Detective, Mud and Magic Mike he has gone from an actor I would avoid like the plague to one of my favourite actors at the moment, extremely quickly. Even his short role in The Wolf of Wall Street was outstanding. He has finally shown us his true potential as an actor, a real “McConaughnaissance” (I wish I had come up with this, but sadly the author of this very interesting article on the relationship between the Oscars and bloggers got there first). His performance as Ron Woodroof, who is diagnosed with AIDS and told he has 30 days to live, is brilliant and thought-provoking. Woodroof is not just portrayed as a two-dimensional “do-gooder” whose trying to save lives, but as a real human being, with shades light and dark. A man who is often homophobic and out to make a profit, but will stand up for the people he trusts and loves. 

With all that praise just heaped on McConaughey, I now want to state that I thought Jared Leto was just as amazing, if not slightly better. Now I could be a little bias here, because I’ve loved Leto for longer than I have McConaughey (who I’ve really only loved since True Detective started), but I don’t think I am when I say in this film Leto can be a bit of scene stealer. All eyes are focused on him and what he’s saying when he’s on screen. And although I don’t truly believe this, I have to admit I had a good chuckle when I read the fact that “Leto lost the most weight and wore eyeliner” made him "a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor” (again, taken from here). There has been a lot of discussion about Leto’s character, Rayon, and his casting. I believe that they definitely should have cast a transgender person to play the part. But sadly, they didn’t and Leto has done a pretty amazing job in their absence. 

The film itself is quite conservative, especially considering the subject its dealing with. While we see Ron regularly engaging in sexual activities before his diagnosis, post-diagnosis he is shown as abstinent except for one woman who he makes very sure also has AIDS. As this review points out, “the idea of safe sex for people with HIV is not discussed, and it is unusual for a movie on this subject to avoid the subject of condoms so entirely”. It also hardly deals with any of the politics behind the issue at the time (Reagan era America) but I don't know whether it's lacking because of it or whether it's better focusing on what the people were doing. 

Dallas Buyers probably won’t win Best Picture but I’ll tell you that it has a definite winner in Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor and a very good chance with McConaughey for the award of Best Actor.