432. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Running Time: 117 mins

Dallas Buyers Club is an American film about the story of Ron Woodroof, who, after being diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, sets up his own club where he sells off medicines which he believes help fight the disease better than those being prescribed by doctors.

This was a very interesting film. Set around a fascinating, and amazingly true story, this is an intriguing and evidently important film to watch, as it shows the effects of the HIV virus, especially during the 1980s, in such a strong way that it is often very heavy duty to watch.

Starting with the performances, which have been so highly praised recently, and they were excellent. Maybe not on the scale of Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine or Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street, but both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto play their characters to such a high degree that the emotional bond you form with them throughout is very strong, making your experience of the film all the more effective.

The story is very strong and heavy in terms of showing the life-destroying effects of AIDS, and that does make it quite difficult and hard-hitting to watch at points, especially in one of the many blackouts suffered by Ron Woodroof throughout, which really hit you as hard as it seems to do the character.

The only issue I would have with this film would be that it was very slow and lacking in any sort of entertainment value. Of course, this is mainly designed to show how bad and terrible the effects of AIDS are, however it misses out on anything that really grips you in the story, so because of that, I’ll give this a 7.7.