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Dallas Buyers Club

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Dallas Buyers Club
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Marc Vallée
Screenplay byCraig Borten
Melisa Wallack
Produced byRobbie Brenner
Nathan Ross
Rachel Rothman
StarringMatthew McConaughey
Jennifer Garner
Jared Leto
CinematographyYves Bélanger
Edited byMartin Pensa
John Mac McMurphy
Production
companies
Truth Entertainment
Voltage Pictures
Distributed byFocus Features[1]
Release dates
  • September 7, 2013 (2013-09-07) (TIFF)
  • November 1, 2013 (2013-11-01) (United States)
Running time
116 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[3]
Box office$30,304,000[4]

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical drama film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and scripted by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack. Matthew McConaughey stars as AIDS patient Ron Woodroof, who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas when he found them effective at improving his symptoms, distributing them to fellow sufferers by establishing the eponymous "Dallas Buyers Club" whilst facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dallas Buyers Club premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically on November 1, 2013, entering wide release on November 22. The film has received general acclaim from critics,[5][6] and has been nominated for and won numerous accolades, most recognizing the performances of McConaughey and Jared Leto, who have received numerous honors, including at the 2014 Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, among others. At the 86th Academy Awards, Dallas Buyers Club is pending six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, for McConaughey, and Supporting Actor, for Leto. It has grossed over $30 million in box office revenue against a budget of $5 million.[4]

Plot

In 1985 Dallas, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey)—a homophobic electrician and rodeo cowboy—is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. He initially refuses to accept the diagnosis, but remembers having unprotected sex with an intravenous drug using prostitute. Ron quickly finds himself ostracized by family and friends, as well as getting fired from his job. At the hospital, he is tended to by Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), who tells him that they are testing a drug called zidovudine (AZT), an antiretroviral drug that is thought to prolong the life of AIDS patients, and the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing on humans. Saks informs him that in the clinical trials, half the patients receive the drug and the other half are given a placebo, as this is the only way they can determine if the drug is working.

Ron bribes a hospital worker to get him the AZT. As soon as he begins taking it, he finds his health deteriorating (exacerbated by his cocaine use). When Ron returns to the hospital he meets Rayon (Jared Leto), an HIV-positive transgender woman, towards whom he is hostile. As his health worsens, Ron drives to a Mexican hospital to get more AZT. Dr. Vass (Griffin Dunne), who has had his American medical license revoked, tells Ron that the AZT is "poisonous" and "kills every cell it comes into contact with". He instead prescribes him ddC and the protein peptide T, which are not approved in the US. Three months later, Ron finds his health much improved. It occurs to him that he could make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients. Since the drugs are not illegal, he is able to get them over the border by masquerading as a priest and swearing that they are for personal use. Meanwhile, Dr. Saks also begins to notice the negative effects of AZT, but is told by her supervisor Dr. Sevard (Denis O'Hare) that it cannot be discontinued.

Ron begins selling the drugs on the street. He comes back into contact with Rayon, with whom he reluctantly sets up business since she can bring many more clients. The pair establish the "Dallas Buyers Club", charging $400 per month for membership, and it becomes extremely popular. Ron gradually begins to respect Rayon and think of her as a friend. When Ron has a heart attack, Sevard learns of the club and the alternative medication. He is angry that it is interrupting his trial, while Richard Barkley (Michael O'Neill) of the FDA confiscates the ddC and threatens to have Ron arrested. Saks agrees that there are benefits to Buyers Clubs (of which there are several around the country) but feels powerless to change anything. She and Ron strike up a friendship.

Barkley gets a police permit to raid the Buyers Club, but can do nothing but give Ron a fine. The FDA changes its regulations such that any unapproved drug is also illegal. As the Club runs out of funds, Rayon—who is addicted to cocaine—begs her father for money and tells Ron that she has sold her life insurance policy to raise money. Ron is thus able to travel to Mexico and get more of the Peptide T. When he returns, Ron finds that Rayon has died after being taken to hospital and given AZT. Saks is also upset by Rayon's death, and she is asked to resign when the hospital discovers that she is linking her patients with the Buyers Club. She refuses, and insists that she would have to be fired.

As time passes, Ron shows compassion towards homosexual members of the club and making money becomes less of a concern – his priority is provision of the drugs. Peptide T gets increasingly difficult to acquire, and in 1987 he files a lawsuit against the FDA. He seeks the legal right to take the protein, which has been confirmed as non-toxic but is still not approved. The judge is compassionate towards Ron but lacks the legal tools to do anything. As the film ends, on-screen text reveals that the FDA later allowed Ron to take Peptide T for personal use, and that he died of AIDS in 1992, seven years later than doctors predicted.

Cast

Production

A profile picture of a middle-aged man with green eyes and light beard.
Jared Leto portrays Rayon, a transgender woman in the film.

Woodroof was the subject of a lengthy 1992 article in The Dallas Morning News written by journalist and author Bill Minutaglio.[9] A month before Woodroof died in September 1992, screenwriter Craig Borten interviewed him to create the screenplay; Borten recorded many hours of interviews with Woodroof and had access to his personal journals.[10][11] Borten drafted 10 different scripts for what he believed would make a great movie and attempted to attract interest in making the film in the mid 1990s,[12] with Dennis Hopper to direct and Woody Harrelson as Woodroof, but the film was unable to secure financial backing (coincidentally, when the film was eventually released in 2013, McConaughey was starring with Harrelson in the television show True Detective). Jared Leto has admitted that he was sent a script but never read it.[13]

In the late 1990s Marc Forster was approached to direct and Brad Pitt was to play the role of Ron, and then in 2008 director Craig Gillespie and Ryan Gosling were then in talks with the producers until Jean-Marc Vallée and Matthew McConaughey signed up.[11][12] Woodroof's sister was reportedly pleased with the casting of McConaughey as Ron Woodroof because he had a similar swagger and personality. She had shown concern earlier in the development process when Pitt and Gosling were attached, due to their personalities not matching to Woodroof's.[14]

McConaughey lost 47 pounds (21 kg) for the role, going from 183 pounds (83 kg) to 136 pounds (62 kg).[15][16] He reportedly stayed indoors in his Texas mansion for six months to become paler and ceased socializing and had to find new ways to entertain himself, which made him "smarter". When he reached as low as 143 lbs, his eyesight began to fail.[16] and he began to feel extremely weak to the point that he'd be sore from doing five push-ups and his legs would lock up after running 30 feet.[16] Leto lost over 30 pounds (14 kg) for the role and confessed to having stopped eating to lose weight quicker; his lowest record weight was 114 pounds (52 kg).[17]

Principal photography began in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA in mid-2012, after considerable delay and concerns about the project from the producers and cast.[18] Jennifer Garner has stated that the film was shot very quickly over just 25 days and has remarked that McConaughey "gave an even wilder performance in takes that didn't appear onscreen".[12] McConaughey stated that "I was riding a new way of making a film. There were no lights, one camera, 15-minute takes."[12]

Release

The first trailer of the film was launched on August 27, 2013.[19] The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7,[20] followed by a release on November 1, 2013.[21] The film was nominated for the Marc Aurèle d'or at the 2013 International Rome Film Festival. Dallas Buyers Club was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 4, 2014.

McConaughey at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival premiere

Box office

As of February 16, 2014, Dallas Buyers Club has grossed $30,304,000 in North America.[4]

Critical response

Upon its premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, Dallas Buyers Club received universal acclaim by critics and audiences, who greatly praised the film for its acting[22] (particularly for McConaughey and Leto), screenplay and direction. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 93% based on reviews from 177 critics, with an average score of 7.7 out of 10, with the site's consensus stating, "Dallas Buyers Club rests squarely on Matthew McConaughey's scrawny shoulders, and he carries the burden gracefully with what might be a career-best performance."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 84 based on 45 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.[6]

Richard Corliss of Time magazine considered McConaughey's portrayal to be a "bold, drastic and utterly persuasive inhabiting of a doomed fighter", remarking that "if the camera occasionally suffers a fashionable case of the jitters, the movie transcends its agitated verismo to impart dramatic and behavioral truth".[11]

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club has six pending nominations at the 86th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for McConaughey, and Best Supporting Actor for Leto. Martin Pensa and Vallée are nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing; Vallée was credited under the pseudonym "John Mac McMurphy".[23] Robin Mathews is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup,although she had a budget of only $250.[24] The film received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Best Actor (McConaughey) and Best Supporting Actor (Leto); it was also nominated for Best Cast.[25] At the 71st Golden Globe Awards McConaughey and Leto again won Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture respectively.[26] The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Writers Guild of America Awards,[27] while Leto's performance has won a range of awards from critics groups, including the New York Film Critics Circle[28] and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.[29] The National Board of Review named Dallas Buyers Club one of the top ten independent films of 2013.[30]

Differences between the film and reality

Logo biopic Dallas Buyers Club

The characters of Rayon and Dr. Eve Saks were fictional; the writers had interviewed transgender AIDS patients, activists and doctors for the film and combined these stories to create the two composite supporting roles. However, Woodroof did lose all his friends after they found out he was HIV-positive. In his interviews with Borten, Woodroof implied that this, along with interactions with gay people living with AIDS through the buyers club, led to a rethinking of his apparent anti-gay sentiments and changed his views on gay people. Other people who knew him said that he did not harbor anti-gay sentiments and was himself bisexual.[31] Also, while a rodeo enthusiast, he never rode any bulls himself.[32] Although the film shows Woodroof diagnosed in 1985, he told Borten that a doctor had informed him he might have the disease well before that; Woodroof believed he may have been infected in 1981, something that was briefly alluded to in a flashback in the film.[10]

While Woodroof was known for outlandish behavior, according to those who knew him both the film and McConaughey made him rougher than he actually was, describing him as "outrageous, but not confrontational" and not as obviously anti-gay earlier in his life.[33] The real Woodroof also had a daughter and a sister who were not approached by the writers and were left out of the script to make the film more of a character study.[10]

Soundtrack

  1. "Sweet Thang" by Shuggie Otis – 4:09
  2. "Following Morning" by The Naked And Famous – 5:03
  3. "Hell and Back" by The Airborne Toxic Event – 3:52
  4. "Ready to Be Called On" by My Morning Jacket – 3:46
  5. "Life of the Party" by Blondfire – 3:23
  6. "The Walker" (Ryeland Allison remix) by Fitz And The Tantrums – 3:28
  7. "Shudder to Think" by Tegan & Sara – 3:24
  8. "Mad Love" (Acoustic) by Neon Trees – 3:39
  9. "Main Man" (T. Rex cover) by Portugal. The Man – 6:15
  10. "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees cover) by Capital Cities – 4:03
  11. "Romance Languages" by Cold War Kids – 2:52
  12. "Burn It Down" (Innerpartysystem remix) by AWOLNATION – 4:56
  13. "After the Scripture" by Manchester Orchestra – 4:36
  14. "City of Angels" (Acoustic) by Thirty Seconds To Mars – 4:29
  15. "Main Man" by T. Rex – 4:13
  16. "Life Is Strange" by T. Rex – 2:32[34]
  17. "Ballrooms of Mars" by T. Rex

The movie includes also the track "Obsession" by Animotion - 4:01 (discothèque scene)

References

  1. ^ "Focus Features Acquires HIV/AIDS Drama ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ Starring Matthew McConaughey." Deadline.com (April 22, 2013).
  2. ^ "DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (15)". Entertainment One. British Board of Film Classification. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  3. ^ Gray, Tim (December 2, 2013). "Directors on Their Teams: Jean-Marc Vallee Talks 'Dallas Buyers Club'". Variety. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Dallas Buyers Club". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Dallas Buyers Club (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  6. ^ a b "Dallas Buyers Club Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 16, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  7. ^ Pelly, Jenn (November 27, 2012). "Bradford Cox to Play Jared Leto's Lover in New Movie". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  8. ^ Crasnick, Jerry and Doug Padilla (February 24, 2014). "Adam Dunn invited to Oscars". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  9. ^ Minutaglio, Bill (August 9, 1992). "Buying Time: World traveler Ron Woodroof smuggles drugs—and hope—for people with AIDS". Dallas Life Magazine. pp. 8–12, 21, 25. (original article)
  10. ^ a b c Harris, Aisha (November 1, 2013). "How Accurate Is Dallas Buyers Club?". Slate.com. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Corliss, Richard (September 12, 2013). "Dallas Buyers Club: McConaughey Shines as a Homophobe Who Gets AIDS". Time. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  12. ^ a b c d Appelo, Tim (November 8, 2013). "'Dallas Buyers Club' Director Wasn't Sold on Matthew McConaughey". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  13. ^ Feinberg, Scott (January 11, 2013). "Jared Leto Reveals He Was First Sent 'Dallas Buyers Club' 15 Years Ago (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  14. ^ 'We can't even look at him': Family of real-life AIDS victim played by Matthew McConaughey in harrowing new movie reveal the TRUE story of courage that inspired actor's 'breathtaking' transformation, Daily Mail, December 6, 2013, accessed December 18, 2013.
  15. ^ "'My organs shrank!' Jared Leto admits he 'didn't eat' to lose 30lbs for The Dallas Buyers Club as he shows off healthier frame". Daily Mail. March 14, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c "Matthew McConaughey says losing three stone Dallas Buyers Club smarter". Daily Mail. February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Jared Leto Debuts Buff Beach Body After Losing 30 Pounds for Dallas Buyers Club Role". Uk.eonline.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  18. ^ Kit, Borys (November 6, 2012). "Jared Leto Returning to Acting with 'Dallas Buyer's Club'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  19. ^ "First trailer for 'Dallas Buyers Club' starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto – watch | Film & TV News". Nme.Com. August 28, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  20. ^ "Nelson Mandela biopic to have world premiere at Toronto". BBC News. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  21. ^ "Dallas Buyers Club Trailer, News, Videos, and Reviews". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  22. ^ Tapper, Jake (November 11, 2013). "Starving for an Oscar – The Lead with Jake Tapper". CNN.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  23. ^ Wong, Jessica (January 16, 2013). "Oscars 2014: fun and surprising facts about the nominees". CBC News.
  24. ^ "How Dallas Buyers Club Got an Oscar Nomination with Just a $250 Makeup Budget". Vanity Fair (magazine). February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  25. ^ Screen Actors Guild (January 18, 2014). "SAG-AFTRA Honors Outstanding Film and Television Performances at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®". Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  26. ^ "Golden Globes 2014: full list of nominations". The Guardian. December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  27. ^ Gray, Tim (January 3, 2014). "WGA Nominations". Variety. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  28. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (December 3, 2013). "'American Hustle' Named Best Picture by New York Film Critics Circle". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  29. ^ Pond, Steve (December 8, 2013). "LA Film Critics: Jared Leto and James Franco Tie, Lupita Nyong'o Wins". The Wrap. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  30. ^ Lewis, Hilary (December 4, 2013). "'Her' Named Best Film by National Board of Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  31. ^ http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/17/was_dallas_buyers_club_s_ron_woodroof_gay_or_bisexual_friends_and_doctor.html
  32. ^ Eliana Dockterman (November 8, 2013). "Dallas Buyers Club' Fact Check". TIME.com. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  33. ^ Sherry Jacobson, The real story behind the ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ movie, Dallasnews.com, November 1, 2013, accessed December 18, 2013.
  34. ^ "Dallas Buyers Club (Music From An... (2013) | Various Artists | MP3 Downloads 7digital United States". Us.7digital.com. October 29, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
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