Dallas Buyers Club

I find myself a bit ambivalent about Dallas Buyers Club. It was OK, I quite enjoyed it, but nothing amazing. Apart from the fact that Matthew McConaughey lost 50 pounds to play the lead role and really does look like death warmed up. Apparently Jared Leto also lost 30 pounds to play the supporting role of Rayon. And it's a mostly true story.

Since I grew up in the 1980's when the film is set, I remember all the misinformation about HIV/AIDS and all the educational campaigns at the time which were trying to raise awareness. For anyone younger I think this is a really good illustration of that time. A time when a lot of people gradually realised that HIV/AIDS wasn't just someone else's problem.

SPOILERS

The story is quite simple: Texan macho-man Ron Woodroof contracts HIV from a prostitute who also serviced intravenous drug users. He develops full-blown AIDS without realising it and does nothing about his deteriorating health until he nearly drops dead. In hospital he is told the truth and given 30 days to live. He refuses to believe that he has HIV since it is a "faggot's disease".

Eventually Woodroof has to accept the truth, but he is ostracised by his friends and co-workers who are just as ignorant and homophobic as he is. In desperation he bribes a hospital orderly to steal an experimental drug called AZT for him.

But he doesn't know the proper dose, mixes the drug with cocaine and alcohol and almost poisons himself. The hospital tell him that AZT can be toxic in high doses but he is still desperate and travels to Mexico to buy more from a doctor there.

The doctor doesn't sell him AZT, telling him that he thinks it is dangerous. He shows Ron several alternatives based on vitamins and other non-toxic proteins... which seem to help Ron and his health gradually improves.

Now the film becomes a bit episodic with several "3 months later" ... "6 months later" ... jumps. Basically, Ron imports the remedies into the US saying they are for personal use, then tries to sell them. He gets busted by the FDA and then we start again.

The most interesting part of the latter end of the film is how Ron changes his attitude to homosexuals in the light of his experiences. That is truly interesting and shows how prejudice is born only of ignorance.

I didn't find the to-ing and fro-ing with the FDA all that interesting. There were some good characters and some enlightening scenes though.

The title Dallas Buys Club comes from a legal loophole that Ron Woodroof employed. He couldn't sell the substances that he imported, but it was legal for him to give them away to members of his club, for which there was a $400 per month membership fee. Sounds silly, but that's the law for you.

Incredibly Ron Woodroof outlived that 30 day prognosis by 7 years.