Photo by Anne Marie Fox – © 2013 – Focus Features
Over the years, actors who’ve transformed their bodies, in a commitment to a role, have been awarded for the changes in physical appearance. In the Dallas Buyers Club, both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto look to have also sacrificed their personal well being and I wonder could the story have been told without the physical trauma? Leto and McConaughey are both brilliant, and this story was or could have been much bigger.
The story takes place in the late 1980’s.One of my favorite parts of the movie was when the Woodroof character has to use a microfiche reader to find out which drugs were effective in treating HIV around the world. This was all pre Google and WebMD and most everyone prayed that they had a knowledgeable doctor who had time to care and worry about their health, and that getting a second opinion might be seen as a sign of betrayal. Woodroof’s time (he was not the only person) was our awakening to our own responsibility for our health. Doctors know what they know and they know that they don’t know everything.
Ron Woodroof was a big deal and he was a part of a revolution whose impact can be seen today in the sometimes unreasonable debate on healthcare and it’s cost. More than 80% of all prescribed medicines are manufactured outside of the USA (China, India, etc.) and these same drugs can be purchased in other countries at a fraction of the cost we pay in the States.
I wish that the movie had the resources to tell more about the number of people who benefited from his uncompromising commitment to living. The Dallas Buyers Club is a good movie and I am glad that it finally got made. Congratulations to McConaughey and Leto.