Dallas Buyer's Club [USA, 2013]

Nine Things about the Movie Dallas Buyers Club

1. Based on a true story, Matthew McConaughey stars as homophobic, coke-addicted rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof in 1985. He finds out he has AIDS from unprotected sex. Once his equally homophobic friends find out, he is rejected and ostracized.

2. He tries taking a new drug, AZT, which almost kills him. So he starts taking unapproved drugs just to stay alive.

3. When these unapproved drugs work, he starts selling them to others, forming one of the "buyers clubs" that popped up in several large cities in the late 1980's.

4. Matthew McConaughey lost 50 pounds for the role, and is amazing in the part. It’s one of his all-time best performances. You can actually see him wasting away as the movie progresses.

5. Jared Leto (yes, THAT Jared Leto) co-stars as a transgender woman named Rayon. Leto also does a fantastic job. He similarly lost 30 pounds for the role.

6. As Ron and Rayon form a business partnership together, they also become friends. Ron’s homophobia begins to change and grudgingly melt away.

7. The characters of Rayon and Dr. Saks are not real people, but are composites based on interviews of several different people.

8. This is a touching story, but it is not sentimental. There’s no tearful apology on Ron’s part for his past hatred of gays. Neither does it make AIDS patients look like pathetic, helpless victims.

9. Ron’s real-life sister approved of Matthew McConaughey to play her brother; she said he has a similar personality. She did not approve of earlier casting choices Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling.