While trapped in a wonderful room at the St. Regis in Atlanta during the snow storm the domestic goddess and I caught up on a few movies. The surprise for me was The Dallas Buyers Club.
A homophobic redneck rodeo hound played by Mathew McConaughey gets HIV from a three way during a rodeo (an act that I immediately removed from my bucket list). Given one month to live in 1985 he researches and finds better treatment from illegal sources from Mexico and other international sources. He smuggles in massive amounts of drugs more effective than the “legal” treatments they are restricted to and distributes to other infected cases. In order to save his own life he has to break the FDA rules. It leaves a strongly libertarian statement in the dramatic stories surrounding AIDS. The character Ron Woodruff eventually dies but lived seven years longer than he was expected.
We are left with a tale of a man who has to fight his own government to get the medical treatment he and so many others desperately needs to survive. He has to fight a government bureaucracy created and administered to protect him. While the FDA has protected us from unsafe treatments, there is a downside to that government protection, and that is what this movie is really about.
The movie is based on a true story: The True Story Behind Dallas Buyers Club: Meet the Real Ron Woodruff
Mathew McConaughey lost over 50 pounds for this movie and is likely to win an Academy Award for it. The transvestite drug abuser his homophobic character partners with is played by Jared Leto, a rock singer in 30 Seconds to Mars. It was also an excellent performance.
Highly recommended.
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