WORDS Sarah Lennon-Galavan

Saturated in muted pastels evocative of faded photographs, the Texas of Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club is an aggressively masculine space. Women are for sex, drinking straight whiskey in public goes without comment and AIDS is something that happens to far-off “queers” like Rock Hudson. This is certainly the world inhabited by Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) until he finds that he himself has contracted the virus. Based on a true story, the film follows his efforts to circumvent mercenary drug companies and the inertia of the medical establishment by selling smuggled medicine to members of his eponymous club.

The deservedly lauded central performance makes the film. McConaughey has limited range but his swaggering Southern screen persona works wonderfully here as we watch Woodruff’s changing attitude to his fellow sufferers, moving from a position of opposition to one of empathy. Through his relationships with free spirited trans woman Rayon (Jared Leto) and conflicted doctor Eve (Jennifer Garner), Woodroof turns a death sentence into his life’s purpose, never forgoing his politically incorrect charm.

While Woodroof’s story is well told, the choice to depict a definitive period in LGBT history from the perspective of a straight man is inherently problematic. Woodroof’s vigorous heterosexuality is emphasised through multiple sex scenes. He is the straight saviour, revitalising a gay community depicted as passive and powerless. Dallas Buyers Club may be an engaging look at a controversial topic but it is not a particularly brave one.

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