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Dallas Buyers Club - Pretty good, it's largely a one man show for Matthew McConaughey but I'm a fan of his. There's good support from Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner (who does very well with what is rather a nothing part). There's not too many surprises but it's entertaining enough.
Thanks for getting back on Pilger. Thats a lively thread you linked.
. Interesting discussion.
I have just realized I did not put up my comments on Dallas Buyers Club here ( on the Brixton Ritzy thread). So here they are:
Two great performances from Matthew McConaughey as Ron and Jared Leto as Rayon. They held the film together.
There was interesting review in
Evening Standard.
This points out that the real life Ron was a married bisexual. This has been written out. Ron in the film is a hard drinking homophobic redneck. It would have been interesting to have done a film about how a bisexual married man dealt with this illness. It would have been a more complex story.
The Big Pharma part of the plot did not work for me. I had friend who had AIDs in that period. I used to used visit him in hospital etc. So know about this subject.
AZT was not simply foisted on doctors by "Big Pharma". In the early days there was no treatment for AIDS. The treatments were for the opportunistic infections that people got due to weakened immune system.
I used to visit my friend in the AIDs ward at Middlesex hospital ( now demolished). I have nothing but praise for the doctors and nurses. It was crisis management of illness in that ward.
AZT did not go through full clinical trials. It was gay groups who campaigned for it to be offered as treatment. There is a bit in the film of TV footage of Act UP protestors with placards demanding AZT to be given to people. People were dying in hospital.
AZT in early days was offered with advice. There were side effects. Effectively patients and doctors were testing the drug as they went on. My friend did not take it. After a few years the combination of different drugs including AZT was developed.This is used now and means people can live relatively normal lives.
I think the Big Pharma plotline is more modern concept that has been overlayed on this story.
The most interesting character was Rayon ( Jared Leto). Accurate portrayal of how some people dealt with prospect of death. People did not want to die. Having seen people near death I can guarantee that its not something people embrace.
Watching the film to me brings back memories. But for the mainly younger audience its not something that they have directly experienced. Wondered what people made of it.
AIDS is now manageable illness. Jared Leto as Rayon had to lose a lot of weight to play the part. Its accurate but not something one sees now with better treatments.
The actual portrayal of the effects of the illness was accurate. In case its thought that some of it might have been exaggerated for purposes of drama. There is one bit were Ron has to stop his car in the street and has to be helped by his policeman friend. Thats how it was. Suddenly someone would collapse and you would have to get them to hospital.
It was something that I thought was one of the good things about the film. To clarify what was being portrayed was how the illness affected people before effective treatments were developed.
It is an amazing film though, LOVED IT.
