Dallas Buyers Club - Blu-ray

Movie: Dallas, 1985: Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is a real-life cowboy. Booze, rodeo betting, coke and fast sex rule his daily life. He is a whole guy who loves women and hates gays. That's why he doesn't want to believe the young doctor Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) at first when she tells him that he is HIV positive. But soon his increasingly weakening body proves to him that he has indeed been infected with the virus known as gay disease. But Ron refuses to accept the prognosis that he has only 30 days to live. He procures AZT, the only legal drug in the U.S. to treat HIV. But when this drug does him more harm than good, he looks beyond the borders for help. When he actually finds drugs that help him in Mexico, he comes up with the idea of smuggling them into the U.S. and selling them for profit to other infected people. With the help of transsexual Rayon (Jared Leto), Ron founds the Dallas Buyers Club, which quickly becomes a huge success - much to the displeasure of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which wants to turn off this business model as quickly as possible...

Dallas Buyers Club is based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, who died in 1992. A few weeks before his death, screenwriter Craig Borten had met with Woodroof and talked in lengthy interviews about his life and his battle with AIDS. Followed by intensive research, Borten penned a first screenplay version of the inspiring story in 1996, but it was not realized until fifteen years later. Director Jean-Marc Vallée (Young Victoria) has taken Borten's script, which has since been revised several times, and turned it into a stirring film that is devoid of pathos and overblown sentimentality, which is precisely why it works so well.

With an astonishing amount of biting humour but nevertheless also with a great deal of sensitivity, the struggle of a single man against the windmills of bureaucracy and the superior power of the American pharmaceutical companies is traced, whereby his very personal transformation from a homophobic cowboy to a champion of the rights of HIV-infected people at the side of gay and lesbian associations is also the focus of the action. It is precisely because Vallée and Borten do not overstylize Ron Woodroof into a lacquered hero, but show him as a completely normal human being with flaws, rough edges and corners, that the production becomes so believable and moving.

However, even the best script and the most successful production would be ineffective in a film that is carried by a character in such a way, if the wrong leading actor had been chosen. But what the frighteningly emaciated Matthew McConaughey delivers here is really, really great cinema. With acting brilliance, he embodies a man who doesn't want pity, but is simply unwilling to surrender to his supposed fate. Instead of languishing in the hands of doctors and pharmaceutical companies, he takes his fate into his own hands and in many ways outgrows himself. Yet this character is not a real sympathetic figure, especially at the beginning. He is loud, rude, sexist, racist and homophobic. And yet McConaughey manages to get the audience on his side quickly - and not (only) because he is infected with a deadly virus.

Embedded in Vallée's very grounded production, McConaughey's performance unfolds a power that one wouldn't necessarily have expected the actor, who likes to subscribe to the smart surfer type, to have in this form, although Matthew McConaughey has of course delivered some really strong performances in the course of his career. But this portrayal, for which he really gave himself heart and soul, is already something very special. And yet, he skillfully avoids not completely upstaging his co-stars. He leaves a lot of room for Jared Leto to impress with his portrayal of a drug-addicted, AIDS-stricken transsexual.

It is quite a feat that the actors and the makers have managed to tell such a heavy, unfortunately still very important and far too often taboo subject with the appropriate respect, but also with a lot of cynical humor and life-affirming lightness. Dallas Buyers Club is not only a great acting film, but also an excellent entertainment film, which despite all the emotionality really gives courage and leaves the viewer with a positive feeling. And for that there is quite clearly a: Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The Blu-ray's absolutely clean picture captures the 80s look of the film very well. Colors are very warm and punchy, and image sharpness is at a very high level at most moments. The good black levels and resulting top-notch contrasts further support the very positive overall impression. The sound mix doesn't really challenge the surround channels, but presents what matters in this film in a well intelligible and harmonious manner. Good!

Extras: Besidesa theatrical release announcement by Matthew McConaughey (approx. 0:20 min.) and footage from a photocall in Berlin (approx. 2:17 min.), there is also a mini-featurette (approx. 4 min.); which, however, is not much more than the trailer pimped up with a few statements from the actors. Uncommented B-roll footage (approx. 4:04 min.), interviews with Matthew McConaughey (approx. 2:19 min.), Jared Leto (approx. 2:43 min.), Jennifer Garner (approx. 2:30 min.), producers Robbie Brenner (approx. 0:33 min.) and Rachel Winter (ca. 0:25 min.) as well as director Jean-Marc Vallée (ca. 1:17 min.), and a promotional clip for the 30th anniversary of the Deutsche AIDS Hilfe (ca. 0:54 min.) round off the very promo-heavy bonus material.

Conclusion: Dallas Buyers Club is a gripping drama that works perfectly both as a sophisticated, rightly with Oscars for McConaughey and Leto honored actor cinema, as well as a pure entertainment film. It's a film that gives you courage and a certain sense of happiness despite the heavy subject matter. The Blu-ray is technically absolutely convincing, the bonus material on the other hand is a bit too promo-heavy to offer any really interesting insights into the filming or the true story. Nevertheless, there is for the disc a clear: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp