Movie Reviews #2…
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#5: Dallas Buyers Club. I’m ambivalent about this one. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Jared Lareto, and Jennifer Garner. Knowing the first actor’s usual physique, this anorexic role couldn’t have been good for his health. In general, you have an awful glimpse of the early stages of the AIDS epidemic in this country. Slow, little action, but good acting characterize this movie, which is definitely not a comedy and not for the squeamish. My ambivalence is due to all that and not the topics.
The movie is based on a true story. For many people that have trouble remembering why the AIDS epidemic, Vietnam, or Kennedy’s assassination were paradigm shifting events in American society, this movie might be a yawner and/or subject to apathy. There are two stories. Ron, one homophobic SOB, played by McConaughey, develops AIDS and is told he has thirty days to live. He sets out to defeat that prognosis and ends up fighting the ponderous and stultifying bureaucracy of the FDA, which continues today in its refusal to give desperate, dying people the chance to try anything that might save them, thus committing bureaucratic murder many times over. The other story is the evolution of Ron, the man. He develops a compassion and friendship for Rayon, a transvestite played by Lareto, and wins the compassion and friendship of Dr. Eve Saks, played by Garner, who also ends up fighting the medical bureaucracy.
As often is the case in these biographical-type movies, the first two-thirds were too drawn out and the last third was a hurry-up-and-let’s-get-it-over-with. The director, Jean-Marc Vallée, needs to learn to strike a better balance. He had a wealth of material to work from but did a so-so job at it. For the acting, Lareto should get an Academy Award supporting-role nomination for his portrayal of Rayon. I suppose McConaughey might get one too, but I wasn’t as impressed by his acting. Forget Garner. She acted well here, much better than in her stupid comedies and femme-fatale thrillers, but she over-acted at times. Maybe out of practice? I’ll give her a few more chances with serious films and then maybe write her off.
Like the movie Milk, this movie won’t be on bigots’ must-see list. It’s also a justifiable critique of government bureaucracy and Texas bureaucrats who bend it to their own agendas. All that means is that the people who should see the movies and learn something from them won’t see them, a sad indictment on an increasingly polarized society. I’m not expecting this film to be a huge box-office hit for that reason.
And so it goes….
[Have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.]
