Dallas Buyers Club
It’s undoubtable that Matthew McConaughey is going to win acting accolades with his incredible portrayal of Ron Woodroof, a homophobic Texan who tests positive for the HIV virus. It’s a performance that’s unstoppable with McConaughey’s conviction and brute honesty, as well as an unwillingness to show Woodroof as flawless.
The man held firm beliefs against those who were different than him and his buddies down at the factory. But, when Woodroof is given the critical news that he only has 30 days to live, he’s determined to find a solution while those who once embraced his southern charm now shun him.
Dallas Buyers Club takes place in the mid-eighties and demonstrates really well how scared and shaken up everyone was when AIDS predominantly entered the scene. If you weren’t Woodroof, you tried to cope with others who were diagnosed with it. Such as the case was with Rayon, a transgender woman played phenomenally by Jared Leto who shouldn’t go unnoticed come award season.
Meanwhile, most medics saw this as an opportunity to experiment – most notably with an FDA approved drug named AZT. AZT was fishy to Woodroof who claimed the drug did more harm than good. After finding a loophole, Woodroof organized the Dallas Buyers Club, where HIV positive patients could pay for memberships entitling them to non-FDA approved drugs from over the border.
I’m bringing up a lot of award winning pre-buzz for good reason. The entire movie is worthy of acclaim from its top notch acting down to the script written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack. However, Dallas Buyers Club doesn’t feel like pandering Oscar bait. It’s a confident production, but it isn’t out to solely garner trophies. It’s primary goal is to tell a strong story about a relentless individual who refused to let a three-letter diagnosis get in his way.
Director Jean-Marc Vallée has done wonders with telling this remarkable tale and representing Ron Woodroof in a way that starts off with his blunt ignorance and gives him a transformtion that’s endearing while also realistically sticking to his sheltered views of the world. Woodroof’s tolerance of homosexuals slowly opens up, but not in a contrived way where he wakes up one morning and declares, “hey, maybe these gays are A-OK!”
Dallas Buyers Club is an all around exceptional piece of work. It’s that rare case of feeling its beefy runtime, but not caring because Vallée and company have done such a fantastic job and use each minute to its fullest. It’s one of the best films of the year but, really, did I need to spell that one out?
Mud
Set against a bluegrass backdrop, Ellis and his best friend Neckbone (both played exceptionally by Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) scavenge through their surroundings to help a wayward, disheveled man named Mud find tools to rescue a tattered boat from out of a towering tree. As they travel back to the island where Mud (played by a striking Matthew McConaughey) roams and hides, the three work together to carry out this seemingly doubtful task.
This is just one of the many moments in Jeff Nichols’ Mud where it appears our three leads are living in a Neverland of sorts. Not worrying about distressed parents, heartbrokenness, or any of that other “real world” junk. Ellis and Neckbone are lost boys and a raggedy man named Mud is Peter Pan. Just imagine those ripped jeans as green leggings.
The plan the three are devising revolves around Mud’s lost love. A love that never feels concrete but is worth fighting for in these guys’ eyes. The problem is Mud’s damsel in distress Juniper (played by a subdued and defeated Reese Witherspoon) is always falling out. She’s getting involved with the wrong company and getting herself into all sorts of trouble – at least, according to Mud.
What starts as a small curiosity pining on a shady homeless individual escalates to a secretive operation as Ellis starts to see more of himself in this enigmatic man. The same can be said both figuratively and, at one point, said quite literally about Mud’s admiration for these inquisitive kids.
Nichols’ film may sound like a mystery for reasons that are insinuated by the young curiosity found in Ellis and Neckbone – and it is – but Mud is much more. It’s an immensely effective movie about developing masculinity as these three main characters learn to grow up in one way or another. It’s a gripping, fantastic watch and you walk away from Nichols’ film having witnessed something incredible with its small scale story and amongst the acting, which includes star making performances from Sheridan and Lofland and a career high for McConaughey.
These performances are so quietly powerful, that they may make some overlook the greatness in other side roles. For instance, the grizzly hard-shelled Tom “the Assassin” Blankenship (played by Sam Shepard) is certainly a memorable portrayal that is as adequate as McConaughey’s role and as distraught as Mud.
Ray McKinnon is very good as Ellis’ father. While playing off a seemingly stereotypical redneck outer layer, McKinnon has the difficult task of being a dislikable hard ass, but also showing a more sympathetic side when he’s emasculated by his wife after he’s fittingly put into place.
Women aren’t represented as the source of all of man’s problems. It’s the refusal and stubbornness of a man that becomes his own worst enemy. Mud, without being heavy-handed, tells a terrific story abut this struggle and how a young mind can realize this apparent pitfall yet still find himself walking in those same footprints. Nichols can be sure he’ll find his outstanding film on many top ten lists come the end of this year.