Dallas Buyers Club

Baze

Excellent film.

At times I felt the performances were more interesting than the dialogue though, but the rest of the film more than makes up for that and so overall, I felt it to be a gem and hope to watch it again over the weekend.

McConaughey's physical transformation into this guy is amazing and his performance equally as impressive.

I hadn't seen nor read anything about the film before seeing it and so viewed Leto's performance without the baggage of hype or critique and all I can say is that his performance was stunning. It had little if anything to do with the fact that Leto has feminine aspects to his features (if indeed he does) although I'm sure that helped. No, what was amazing about his performance was how engrossing it was, how you didn't get the impression that this was an acting performance at all. It seemed effortless and therefore, utterly believable.

A shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor but a fully deserving one.

leonidas83

Powerful performance from McConaughey, having seen his competition for the Oscar already I think he deserves it more than any of them for this.

His improvisation with this character was excellent & his ability to inject a bit of nuance into the southern American man is never in question.

The film at times did go a little flat but I felt that was mainly down to Jennifer Garners character nearly boring me to death. The fact that this character never existed in real life only added to this.

m'lady

We watched this last night, thought both actors performances were excellent and while I found it very sad and educational I actually found it a tad boring at times, my OH thought the same.

I'm sure it portray the paranoia that people had towards AIDS and it's victims though. Perhaps it was my mood last night but I was willing it to end!

Kale and Strawberry

Corholio wrote: »

Thought the same myself, saw the film a few weeks ago and then saw the TV spot earlier and thought anyone looking to see a plucky funny film about dealing with AIDS might be disappointed.

When I saw the cinema trailer for this the impression I got was that it would be a boring depressing movie. Can't imagine ever seeing a funny AIDS movie.

expectationlost

how long do you reckon he was sick for before the film starts, he's right skinny from the start

Red Crow

What a great movie. Really enjoyed the movie.

And at least now we know what became of Paul Allen!

Rubber_Soul

Just back from this and really enjoyed it. Always a danger that a film like this collapses into melodrama or melancholy under the weight of it's subject matter, but this manages to get the balance just right. Really impressed with the performances of Leto, but more so McConaughey. The scene between Leto and his father is incredible but McConaughey is excellent throughout.

Charlie19

Great movie and great acting throughout. Couldn't believe how thin McConaughey was.

To think of all the fuss in the Irish media of late about some comments made on the Saturday night show and then you look at the abuse Ron Woodroof received by his so called friends, I think society has came on a long way since the 80's.

Psychedelic

Wow, brilliant film, outstanding acting and a great story. At times both sad and feel-good. Top drawer all round. 9/10 at least.

Fysh

Caught this yesterday and thought it was very good; Matthew McConaughey continues to impress (pre-Killer Joe, I couldn't imagine myself ever wanting to watch a film starring him, yet now he's on my list of people to look out for on cast lists). Jared Leto was also pretty impressive here, though I suspect outshined slightly by McConaughey. The two had a good on-screen chemistry and in fact the only weak link in the cast was Jennifer Garner, who wasn't exactly bad, just not very good (to be fair, she's not given much to do except be a counterpoint to the Doctor Who's In Big Pharma's Pocket).

Tonally it reminded me a bit of Midnight Cowboy, although it's not as jet-black in its humour as that film. In saying that there were some laugh-out-loud moments (the conversation between Ron and Rayon about

Ron's office wall being painted red, and then having pictures of Marc Bolan on the all alongside Ron's girlie pictures

was hilarious, as was the later scene that calls back to it).

ScrubsfanChris

I had a little laugh at the poster of a Lamborghini Aventador behind Ron's desk in his office, a bit early give or take 25 years

lukin

expectationlost wrote: »

how long do you reckon he was sick for before the film starts, he's right skinny from the start

Yes I though that didn't make much sense. It would have been more realistic if he was a healthy weight at the start and then gradually lost weight as the disease progressed. Surely that's the way it would work in reality? Maybe logistically that wasn't possible for them to film it in that way (time constraints).

krudler

lukin wrote: »

Yes I though that didn't make much sense. It would have been more realistic if he was a healthy weight at the start and then gradually lost weight as the disease progressed. Surely that's the way it would work in reality? Maybe logistically that wasn't possible for them to film it in that way (time constraints).

If I remember right there's a shot of him going at it with someone and he looks much healthier, I guess they shot that pre or post weight loss.

tunguska

Saw this at the weekend and I was disappointed. I found myself losing interest half way through. Mc Conaughey is brilliant, no doubt about that but I was left a little underwhelmed by Jared Leto's performance. I'd heard great things and he even walked away with the Golden Globe so I was looking forward seeing what he was like in this. But I just dont think it was a great performance, I mean it wasnt bad or anything, but the fact that he's the favourite to win the oscar over Michael Fassbender is mind boggling. Fassbender's performance is in a different league.
Average film with one above average performance.

Miguel_Sanchez

lukin wrote: »

Yes I though that didn't make much sense. It would have been more realistic if he was a healthy weight at the start and then gradually lost weight as the disease progressed. Surely that's the way it would work in reality? Maybe logistically that wasn't possible for them to film it in that way (time constraints).

He's had AIDS for quite a while by the start of the film (they give him 30 days to live) so it makes perfect sense for him to be so skinny from the outset of the story.

Fysh

Also, in practical terms, the film was made in less than thirty days AFAIR, so they wouldn't have had time to get McConaughey to do the initial "normal weight" shots and then drop the weight, nor to put the weight back on afterwards and shoot scenes then.

lukin

Miguel_Sanchez wrote: »

He's had AIDS for quite a while by the start of the film (they give him 30 days to live) so it makes perfect sense for him to be so skinny from the outset of the story.

Yes but nobody said to him at the start "Jeez you got so skinny, what happened to you?" so the viewer was led to believe he was like that all the time and the weight loss was not due to his illness.
A minor gripe, it was still a good movie.

Miguel_Sanchez

lukin wrote: »

Yes but nobody said to him at the start "Jeez you got so skinny, what happened to you?" so the viewer was led to believe he was like that all the time and the weight loss was not due to his illness.
A minor gripe, it was still a good movie.

I don't see how the viewer was led to believe that. You don't need to have someone deliver such an on-the-nose line for people to put two and two together and realise that he looks the way he does because of the illness

If someone had said that to him at the start it would have been awful scriptwriting.

kryogen

I was kinda bored by it to be totally honest, dunno why, it just never grabbed me

bangkok

great film

Lucas Hood

kryogen wrote: »

I was kinda bored by it to be totally honest, dunno why, it just never grabbed me

Same here. Didn't enjoy it very much myself.

tunguska

Actually how did Ron contract HIV in the first place? I think Mrs Tunguska was asking me a question when this part was on

Boulevardier

Excellently acted, particularly by Mc Conaughey.

However, it drags a bit towards the end and there is at least one anachronism - I'm pretty sure the word homophobic (used here in the supermarket scene) did not exist in the 1980s.

Mickeroo

Boulevardier wrote: »

Excellently acted, particularly by Mc Conaughey.

However, it drags a bit towards the end and there is at least one anachronism - I'm pretty sure the word homophobic (used here in the supermarket scene) did not exist in the 1980s.

It's been around since the 1960's apparently.

Boulevardier

I would find that very surprising.

Mickeroo

Boulevardier wrote: »

I would find that very surprising.

I'm only going by what it says on the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia#Origins

efb

tunguska wrote: »

Actually how did Ron contract HIV in the first place? I think Mrs Tunguska was asking me a question when this part was on

Men can get aids from sex with an infected woman

It's less likely but still occurs. Anal more likely

MagicMarker

tunguska wrote: »

Actually how did Ron contract HIV in the first place? I think Mrs Tunguska was asking me a question when this part was on

Well when a man loves a woman....

Miguel_Sanchez

tunguska wrote: »

Actually how did Ron contract HIV in the first place? I think Mrs Tunguska was asking me a question when this part was on

While Ron was researching AIDS they showed a brief flashback to him having sex with at least one prostitute with trackmarks on her arm.

tunguska

Miguel_Sanchez wrote: »

While Ron was researching AIDS they showed a brief flashback to him having sex with at least one prostitute with trackmarks on her arm.

Yeah that was it. I kind of got glimpses of what was going on but didnt get the to see the full scene.