Dallas Buyers Club
Dir: Jean-Marc Vallee
2013
****
I heard the Dallas Buyers Club get a lot of criticism for not going into detail about the HIV/AIDS virus and it's effect on the Gay community. The film isn't really about that, it's about a few individuals who had fought the illness as well as the authorities for their right for medicine. For more films on Gay rights and the issue with the poor treatment of HIV/AIDS patients see Milk, The Times of Harvey Milk and Vito to name but a few. The Times of Harvey Milk and Vito are great documentaries, so like Milk, it is nice to see a good dramatisation of these real life events that people are either unaware of or choose to forget. I'll be honest, Dallas Buyers Club is a little formulaic. This doesn't distract from the main message though and that was probably a good move rather than trying to be clever. The authorities did HIV and AIDS sufferers a great wrong by effectively turning their backs on them as they did (This is detailed fully in Vito) and using them as Guinea pigs. The big pharma corporations acted unethically and would never be able to get away with what they did today, they still charge way too much and hold the medical world to ransom but speaking as someone with experience in clinical trials (clever Croc), the Doctors often did have a good point and that was a little bit white-wasted in this film. All that aside, it is a great human story of strength, acceptance and adversity. The passion to tell this story is evident from the outset and the dedication and effort of the leading characters is awe-inspiring. The direction, as formulaic as it is, is strong. The tact shown in certain scenes is where it's real strength can be seen, the last scene being one of the strongest and well conceived I've seen in a very long time. A great film.