Film Preview: Dallas Buyers Club

The main news associated with this movie is the huge amount weight that the lead actors Matthew McConaughey (50lbs) and Jared Leto (30lbs) have lost in preparation for this movie. McConaughey is almost unrecognisable in the lead role in which he dieted for 5 months under the supervision of a doctor to protect his health, although he is still said to have suffered due to the weight loss whereas Jared Leto mainly just stopped eating. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée who is Canadian and mostly known for doing French-language films so it was unsurprising that the film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival.

Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof

In 1986 Dallas, homophobic, drug addicted party boy Ron Woodroof is diagnosed with HIV and is given 30 days to live. He starts taking the Food and Drug Administration approved AZT, the only drug legally available in the U.S, which brings him to the brink of death. To survive, he smuggles anti-viral medications from all over the world, which were still unapproved and unavailable in the U.S.

Dallas Buyers Club is released in the UK on 7th February 2014.