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''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by
Jean-Marc Vallée Jean-Marc Vallée (March 9, 1963December 25, 2021) was a Canadian filmmaker, film editor, and screenwriter. After studying film at the Université de Montréal, Vallée went on to make a number of critically acclaimed short films, including '' ...
. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (
Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
), an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mid-1980s when
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...
/AIDS treatments were under-researched, while the disease was not understood and was highly stigmatized. As part of the experimental AIDS treatment movement, he smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas for treating his symptoms, and distributed them to fellow people with AIDS by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club" while facing opposition from the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
(FDA). Two fictional supporting characters, Dr. Eve Saks (
Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Comp ...
), and Rayon (
Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Gol ...
), were composite roles created from interviews with transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors. Presidential biographer and PEN-USA winner
Bill Minutaglio Bill Minutaglio ( William Donald Minutaglio; born 1955) is a journalist, educator and author of nine books. He is the recipient of a PEN Center USA Literary Award and has served as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was giv ...
wrote the first magazine profile of the Dallas Buyers Club in 1992. The article, which featured interviews with Woodroof and also recreated his dramatic international exploits, attracted widespread attention from filmmakers and journalists. Screenwriter Borten interviewed Woodroof in 1992 and wrote the script, which he polished with writer Wallack in 2000, and then sold to producer Robbie Brenner. Several other actors, directors, and producers who were attached at various times to the development of the film left the project.
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
also tried to make the film, but did not. A couple of screenwriters wrote drafts that were rejected. In 2009, producer Brenner involved Matthew McConaughey, because of his Texas origins, the same as Woodroof's. Brenner selected the first draft, written by Borten and Wallack, for the film, and then Vallée was set to direct the film.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in November 2012, in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...
. Brenner and
Rachel Winter Rachel Winter is a film producer. Winter and her fellow producers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2013 film ''Dallas Buyers Club''. In 2015, she co-founded RainMaker Films with producers Clay Pecorin, Russell Geyse ...
co-produced the film. The official soundtrack album featured various artists, and was released digitally on October 29, 2013, by the Relativity Music Group. ''Dallas Buyers Club'' premiered at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films w ...
and was released theatrically in the United States on November 1, 2013, by
Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in t ...
, entering wide release on November 22. The film grossed over $52 million worldwide against a budget of $5 million. The film received widespread critical acclaim, resulting in numerous accolades. Most praised the performances of McConaughey and Leto, who received the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The a ...
and for Best Supporting Actor, respectively, at the 86th Academy Awards, making this the first film since '' Mystic River'' (2003), and only the fifth film ever, to win both awards. The film also won the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and garnered nominations for
Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, Best Original Screenplay, and
Best Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...
.


Plot

In July 1985, promiscuous
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
electrician and rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. Being heterosexual, he initially refuses to accept the diagnosis until he remembers having unprotected sex with a prostitute who was an intravenous drug user years prior. His family and friends ostracize him, mistakenly assuming he contracted AIDS from homosexual relations. He is fired from his job, and evicted from his home. His doctor, Eve Saks, tells him an antiretroviral drug called
zidovudine Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-chil ...
(AZT) is thought to prolong the life of AIDS patients, and is the only drug yet approved for testing in human
clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
by the FDA. To Ron's disappointment, Saks informs him that in the trial, half the patients receive the drug and the other half a
placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...
, as this is the only way they can determine if it is working. Woodroof bribes a hospital worker to get him AZT which, exacerbated by his
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
use, causes his health to deteriorate. Recuperating in hospital, he meets Rayon, a drug addicted, HIV-positive
trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may Gender transitioning, transition; this process commonly includes Feminizing horm ...
, to whom he is initially hostile. As his health worsens, he drives to a makeshift Mexican hospital to get more AZT. The facility is run by an American, Dr. Vass, whose U.S. medical license was revoked because aspects of his work with AIDS patients had violated US regulations. Vass warns Woodroof against AZT, telling him it is "poisonous", and instead prescribes a cocktail of drugs and nutritional supplements centered on ddC and the protein peptide T, which are not yet approved in the US. Three months later, Woodroof finds his health much improved, and realizes he could make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients. Since the drugs alone are not illegal, he is able to get them over the border by masquerading as a priest, saying they are for personal use. Meanwhile, Saks also begins to notice the negative effects of AZT, but her supervisor, Dr. Sevard, tells her the trials cannot be discontinued. Over the next year, Woodroof begins selling the drugs in Dallas on the street, at gay nightclubs, and at
discotheque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...
bars. He reluctantly sets up business with Rayon, since she can bring in more customers. The pair establish the "Dallas Buyers Club", charging $400 per month for membership, and it becomes extremely popular. Woodroof gradually begins to respect Rayon as a friend. When Woodroof has a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...
caused by an overdose of recently acquired
interferon Interferons (IFNs, ) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten t ...
, Sevard learns of the club and the alternative medication. He is angry that it is interrupting his trial. The FDA confiscates the interferon and threatens to have Woodroof arrested. Saks agrees that there are benefits to AIDS medicine buyers clubs (of which there are several around the country) but feels powerless to change anything. The processes that the FDA uses to research, test and approve drugs are seen as flawed and a part of the problem for AIDS patients. At that time, the United States and its FDA were seen as particularly conservative by international standards in testing and approving anti-AIDS drugs, and hostile to imported drugs to the point they were made contraband. Saks and Woodroof strike up a friendship. The FDA gets a warrant to raid the Buyers Club, but can ultimately do nothing but fine Woodroof. In 1987, the FDA changes its regulations, making any unapproved drug illegal. As the Club runs out of funds, Rayon, who is addicted to cocaine, begs her father for money and tells Woodroof that she has sold her
life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...
policy to raise money. Woodroof travels to Mexico and gets more peptide T. Upon return, Ron finds out that Rayon has died after being taken to the hospital. Saks is also upset by her death, and is asked to resign when the hospital discovers she had been linking patients with the Buyers Club, having learned that AZT trials previously conducted in France had proven the drug ineffective. She refuses, and insists that she will have to be fired instead. As time passes, Woodroof shows more compassion towards gay, lesbian, and transgender members of the club and making money becomes less of a concern; His priority is now the provision of the drugs. Peptide T gets increasingly difficult to acquire, and in late 1987 he files a lawsuit against the FDA. He seeks the legal right to take the protein, which has been confirmed as non-toxic but is still not approved. The judge is sympathetic toward him and admonishes the FDA, but lacks the power to do anything. As the film ends, the on-screen text reveals that the FDA did later allow Woodroof to take peptide T for personal use and that he died of the disease's effects in 1992, 7 years later than his doctors initially predicted.


Cast

*
Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
as Ron Woodroof, a real-life AIDS patient who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas when he found them effective at improving his symptoms. In an interview with CBS News' Lee Cowan in February 2014, McConaughey said that he selected the role because he thought it was not just a normal story, but it was a story of a "wild man". McConaughey was raised near Dallas, so he was very familiar with the culture. Additionally, he thought that the script was "incredibly human, with no sentimentality". McConaughey lost nearly 50 pounds (22 kilograms) to play Woodroof in the film. *
Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Comp ...
as Dr. Eve Saks, who treats AIDS patients like Woodroof and Rayon. Upon Garner's casting, after reading the script she expressed: "I had heard about it, and I had seen pictures of Matthew losing weight. And really couldn't imagine how I was going to do it, and was so happy at home." *
Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Gol ...
as Rayon, a fictional trans woman with HIV who helps Woodroof. To accurately portray his role, Leto lost 30 pounds (13 kilograms), shaved his eyebrows and waxed his entire body. He stated the portrayal was grounded in his meeting transgender people while researching the role. He stated that, when he moved to Los Angeles in 1991, he had a roommate who died of AIDS. He " orkedon Rayon's voice for weeks" and refused to break character during filming; director Vallée stated: "I don't know Leto. Jared never showed me Jared." * Denis O'Hare as Dr. Sevard *
Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include '' Reality Bites'' (1994), '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken ...
as Tucker, a cop * Michael O'Neill as Richard Barkley, an FDA agent and antagonist *
Dallas Roberts Dallas Mark Roberts (born May 10, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Milton Mamet in the third season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' (2012-2013), Eliot Delson on '' Unforgettable'', and Owen Cavanaugh on ''The Good Wif ...
as David Wayne, Ron's lawyer * Griffin Dunne as Dr. Vass, a Mexico-based doctor * Kevin Rankin as T. J., Ron's friend * Bradford Cox as "Sunflower", Rayon's lover, a cross-dresser dying of AIDS *
Scott Takeda Scott Takeda (born March 21, 1967) is an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He is known for his recurring roles on the soap operas ''Days of Our Lives'' (2016–17, as Dr. Lee) and ''General Hospital'' (2019–20, as Judge Lowe), and f ...
as Mr. Yamata * Adam Dunn ('' cameo'') as a bartender


Production


Development

The film is based on the real life of Ron Woodroof, a patient of HIV and AIDS, who was the subject of a lengthy 1992 article in ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''The Galves ...
'' written by journalist and author Bill Minutaglio. A month before Woodroof died in September 1992, screenwriter Craig Borten was told about the story by his friend, so he went and interviewed him to create the screenplay; Borten recorded many hours of interviews with Woodroof and had access to his personal journals. Borten wrote a script for what he believed would make a great movie and attempted to attract interest in making the film in mid 1996, with
Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in '' Giant'' (1956). In the next ten year ...
attached to direct.
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...
was set to buy the script but the film was unable to secure financial backing. In an interview, Borten revealed that he met Melisa Wallack in 2000 and asked her to help with the script, to which she said yes. In 2001, after one year of working on the script, they sold it to producer Robbie Brenner, who then set Marc Forster to direct the film for
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
, but left due to some personal delays. In June 2008,
Craig Gillespie Craig Gillespie (born 1 September 1967) is an Australian-American film, television, music video, and commercial director. He is best known for directing the films '' Lars and the Real Girl'' (2007), '' Fright Night'' (2011), '' I, Tonya'' (2 ...
and
Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has receive ...
were in talks to join the film, which was to be produced by David Bushell and
Marc Abraham Marc Abraham is an American film producer, director, and former president of Strike Entertainment, a production company he launched in early 2002 with a multi-year, first look arrangement with Universal Pictures. Career Abraham began his care ...
for Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment. Chase Palmer was writing the script that time around, and screenwriters
Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán (; born 13 March 1958) is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as "a hunter who works as a writer," he is best known for his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and BAFTA Award fo ...
and Stephen Belber had reportedly also written the subsequent drafts for the film. In 2009, producer Robbie Brenner got involved again and rejected all the rewrites of the script, and the original version by Borten and Wallack was sent to actor Matthew McConaughey to see if the Dallas native would be interested in playing the role. On March 9, 2011,
Jean-Marc Vallée Jean-Marc Vallée (March 9, 1963December 25, 2021) was a Canadian filmmaker, film editor, and screenwriter. After studying film at the Université de Montréal, Vallée went on to make a number of critically acclaimed short films, including '' ...
was confirmed to direct the film based on the script by Borten and Wallack.
Rachel Winter Rachel Winter is a film producer. Winter and her fellow producers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2013 film ''Dallas Buyers Club''. In 2015, she co-founded RainMaker Films with producers Clay Pecorin, Russell Geyse ...
also attached to produce the film. On November 14, 2012, it was announced that Remstar Films had acquired the Canadian rights while
Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...
would handle the United Kingdom rights for the film. On April 23, 2013,
Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in t ...
acquired the United States and Latin American distribution rights for the theatrical release of the film. In May 2013, Voltage Pictures and Truth Entertainment closed a deal to produce the film.


Casting

In 1996,
Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards ...
was attached to the film to play Ron Woodroof, but left the film because of financing issues. In 2002,
Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
was attached to play the lead role. In June 2008,
Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has receive ...
was in talks to join the film for the lead role to play Woodroof, but couldn't take the role. In 2009, producer Brenner sent the script to actor
Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
and got him involved to star in the film. Wondering whether the Texas native was interested in playing another Texas native (he's originally from Uvalde), Brenner says that he asked himself: Who is Ron Woodroof?' And in my mind, it was Matthew. Like Ron, he's from Dallas, he's handsome, and he has a twinkle in the eye. Matthew also has intensity and intelligence like Ron did, mixed with that cowboy charisma and fighter's spirit. He was beyond perfect for the role." Writer Borten said: "Ron was a very charismatic, funny and persuasive, a real salesman. Even if he was making fun of you, you wanted him to continue because he was so charming. Matthew possesses a lot of those same qualities." On March 9, 2011, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' confirmed that McConaughey would star in the film as Woodroof and quoted McConaughey as saying: "It's a great script and a great story. And I think it can be a great movie." On May 11, 2011,
Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (199 ...
was reportedly in talks to join the film with McConaughey's role confirmed. On October 3, 2012, it was announced that Swank had dropped out of the film and that
Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and producer. He is best known for his performances in the films '' Bad Education'', '' The Motorcycle Diaries'', '' Amores perros'', '' Y tu mamá también'', '' Babel'', '' Coco' ...
was in talks to play an HIV patient who meets Woodroof in the hospital and helps him in the club. On November 6, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' confirmed that
Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Gol ...
would be returning to acting to play the role which Bernal was previously in talks to play. In January 2014, Jared Leto has admitted that he was sent a script 15 years ago but never read it. When Leto was asked about his role, he said: "This was a really special movie. I think it was the role of a lifetime. It's one of the best things I've ever done." He also said that he tried to stay focused on the role because he knew it was an incredible opportunity. On November 14,
Dallas Roberts Dallas Mark Roberts (born May 10, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Milton Mamet in the third season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' (2012-2013), Eliot Delson on '' Unforgettable'', and Owen Cavanaugh on ''The Good Wif ...
and
Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include '' Reality Bites'' (1994), '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken ...
joined the film; Roberts would play David Wayne, Ron's defense attorney, while Zahn would play a Dallas police officer who is sympathetic to Ron. On November 26, Griffin Dunne, Denis O'Hare, and Bradford Cox joined the cast when the shooting was underway in New Orleans. McConaughey lost for the role, going from to . Leto lost over for the role and said that he had stopped eating to lose weight quicker; his lowest record weight was .


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on November 11, 2012 in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...
.
Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Comp ...
has stated that the film was shot very quickly over just 25 days and has remarked that McConaughey "gave an even wilder performance in takes that didn't appear onscreen". McConaughey stated that "I was riding a new way of making a film. There were no lights, one camera, 15-minute takes." Half of the shots were lit with artificial light and the other half were not. Vallée said: "I now had a perfect opportunity to try to shoot an entire movie without artificial lights, using the Alexa digital camera. Like the RED, the Alexa offers a broad spectrum of colors and shadows in even the darkest natural lighting conditions. I felt that the approach was right for this project. The look and feel became that we were capturing reality; even though ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is not a documentary in content or structure, it could have that subtle quality. We shot the movie 100% handheld with two lenses, a 35-millimeter and a 50-millimeter. These get close to the actors and don't skew the images. (Director of Photography) Yves Belanger adjusted for every shot at 400 or 1600 ASA (light sensitivity), displaying different color balance." Jared Leto, who played Rayon, an AIDS patient and trans woman with a drug problem, refused to break character for the whole 25 days of shooting. In interviews of people who were involved in the film said about Leto that, in a sense, they never really met Leto until months after the shoot was over. Leto said about his character, "That phrase ''staying in character'' to me really means commitment, focus, and for a role like this that's so intense and challenging and extreme in a lot of ways, it demanded my full attention."


Music

The film does not feature an original score, but several original and incorporated songs, released as a separate album. The album '' Dallas Buyers Club (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture)'' was released on October 30, 2013, by the Relativity Music Group. The soundtrack album featured various artists, include Leto's band
Thirty Seconds to Mars Thirty Seconds to Mars (commonly stylized as 30 Seconds to Mars) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto (lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Shannon Leto (drums, p ...
,
Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...
,
Awolnation Awolnation (stylized in all caps) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed and fronted by Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, Home Town Hero, and Insurgence. The band is signed to Better Noise Music, formerly bei ...
,
The Naked and Famous The Naked and Famous are a New Zealand indie electronic band from Auckland, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of Alisa Xayalith (vocals, keyboards) and Thom Powers (vocals, guitars). The band has released four studio albums: '' Pas ...
,
T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...
, My Morning Jacket,
Fitz and the Tantrums Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick (lead vocals), Noelle Scaggs (co-lead vocals and percussion), James King (saxophone, ...
,
Blondfire Blondfire is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, California, United States. It started as a duo of brother and sister Bruce and Erica Driscoll, under the name Astaire, and since 2015 has been a solo act with Erica Driscoll. Early life Er ...
,
Neon Trees Neon Trees is an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Thei ...
,
Cold War Kids Cold War Kids is an American alternative rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett (vocals, piano, guitar), Matt Maust (bass guitar), David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, backing vocals, ...
, Capital Cities,
The Airborne Toxic Event The Airborne Toxic Event is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2006. It consists of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Adrian Rodriguez (electric bass, backing vocals), Daren T ...
, and more. It was announced that 40 cents of every sale of album at iTunes would go to the AIDS relief charity
Project Red A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerialism, managerially as a se ...
's Global Fund.


Release

The first trailer was launched on August 27, 2013. The film premiered at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films w ...
on September 7, on which Deadline's Pete Hammond said, "It would seem an absolute no-brainer that both (McConaughey and Leto) will be sitting front and center come March 2nd at the
Dolby Theatre The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. ...
when Oscar winners are announced. If there are two better performances by anyone this year I have not seen them." Focus Features released the film on November 1, 2013.


Box office

The film's release was previously set for December 5, but hoping to gain a competitive edge amid a crowded playing field, Focus Features shifted the release date to November 1, believing the new date was ideal to launch a platform release in the awards season, and expecting to do a wide release for 5-day
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
weekend (November 27 – December 1). Because the film was an awards contender, Focus set the date in November for an Oscars strategy like that for 2013 Oscar winner '' Argo'', which was released in October 2012. Over its opening weekend from November 1–3 of limited release in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
and
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
, the film grossed $260,865 from 9 theaters with an average of $28,985 per theater, In second weekend from November 8–10, film grossed $638,704, making total of $993,088 with an average amount of $18,249 from 35 theaters. And it was expanded to 184 locations in its third week of release and it grossed $1,751,359 from Nov 15–17, with an average of $9,518, making total of $3,012,295. It opened wide on November 22 (the weekend before Thanksgiving) in 666 theaters and grossed $2,687,157 from November 22–24, with a total of $6,374,058 and average of $4,035 per location. The wide release coincided with the Screen Actors Guild Awards ballots deadline, and was before the Golden Globe Awards ballots. The
Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
mailed
Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and ...
nomination ballots to its voters on November 20, and the nomination ballots for the
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
were mailed to the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, magazine and book publication ...
members on or before November 27. 71st Golden Globe Awards were announced on January 12, 2014 with Dallas Buyers Club winning both of its nominations, and the film earned six 86th Academy Awards nominations that were announced on January 16. The twelfth weekend after limited release, the film's theater run jumped from 125 screens to a total of 419 and the film grossed $17,813,220 with an average of $2,246 per theater from January 17–19. After the
20th Screen Actors Guild Awards The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2013, were presented on January 18, 2014 at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony was broadcast simul ...
were announced on January 18 with Dallas Buyers Club winning two of its three nominations, during the thirteenth weekend from January 24–26, 2014, the film expanded to 1,110 locations (highest playing of the film) and grossed $2,028,570 more in that weekend with an average of $1,828. Until that weekend the top grossing markets were Los Angeles, New York,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
and
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
. After a total of 182 days, the film ended its American theatrical run on May 1, 2014 with a gross of $27,298,285 in North America. It grossed $27,900,000 in foreign countries including $8,755,794 of the United Kingdom, $2,761,258 of Australia, making a worldwide total gross of $55,198,285.


Home media

''Dallas Buyers Club'' was released on DVD and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
on February 4, 2014. In the United States, the film has grossed $4,532,240 from DVD sales and $3,097,179 from Blu-ray sales, making a total of $7,629,419.


Reception


Critical response

Upon its
premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...
at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films w ...
, ''Dallas Buyers Club'' received universal acclaim by critics and audiences, who greatly praised the film for its acting (particularly for McConaughey and Leto), screenplay and direction. Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
gives the film a score of 92% based on 266 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The site's consensus reads, "''Dallas Buyers Club'' rests squarely on Matthew McConaughey's scrawny shoulders, and he carries the burden gracefully with what might be a career-best performance."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gives the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Richard Corliss of ''Time'' magazine considered McConaughey's portrayal to be a "bold, drastic and utterly persuasive inhabiting of a doomed fighter", remarking that "if the camera occasionally suffers a fashionable case of the jitters, the movie transcends its agitated verismo to impart dramatic and behavioral truth". Chris Bumbray reviewed the film for '' JoBlo.com'' and gave it 9 out of 10, and said, "Like Woodroof, the film never wants your pity, and while tears will no doubt be shed while watching it, they're well-earned." ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...
''s Steven Rea talked about McConaughey's role, "Just about everything is right with ''Dallas Buyers Club'', beginning with Matthew McConaughey's literally transformative portrayal. McConaughey's performance isn't just about the weight loss. It's about gaining compassion, even wisdom, and it's awesome." Mick LaSalle of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
'' said, "Dallas Buyers Club" takes audiences back to the worst of the AIDS crisis, where the disease was a death sentence, and the public's terror and hostility were at its height." Film critic Richard Roeper reviewed the film for his own website, and talked about McConaughey: "Once we get past McConaughey's stunning transformation, we're transfixed by a performance that reminds us of why this guy became a movie star in the first place." Ann Hornaday gave the film 4 out of 4 ratings, and then gave her remarks on McConaughey's remarkable performance for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', "McConaughey delivers the performance of his career, characterized not just by an astonishing physical transformation but by a wellspring of deep compassion and fearlessness." The '' Orange County Register''s film critic Michael Sragow gave the film grade "A" and commented on three lead characters, "A trio of terrific performers imbues a riveting AIDS drama with heart and mind as well as pertinence." Film critic Ty Burr reviewed the film for ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' and criticized, "The movie's often touching and very watchable, but what gets you past the script's sincere calculation is the growing sense of rage toward a medical–industrial complex that saw AIDS sufferers as guinea pigs and sources of profit." The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''s film critic Michael Phillips talked about "How Woodroof became his own brand of AIDS activist is the stuff of ''Dallas Buyers Club,'' which does a few things wrong but a lot right, starting right at the top with McConaughey." Bob Mondello criticized the film's character for '' NPR'' in these words: "Dallas Buyers Club is just about a selfish boor who arguably gets a pass in terms of posterity, because while looking out for No. 1, he paved the way for change for everyone else." Dana Stevens of ''
Slate magazine ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former ''New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 20 ...
'' praised McConaughey's performance, highlighting that the movie "traffics in deep hindbrain emotions: fear and rage and lust and, above all, the pure animal drive to go on living." Lou Lumenick of the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' expressed his compliments about the film's crew, "It's a remarkable story, vividly and urgently told by French-Canadian director Vallée from a pointed, schmaltz-free script by Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack."
A. O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
reviewed the film for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and said, "Matthew McConaughey brings a jolt of unpredictable energy to ''Dallas Buyers Club,'' an affecting if conventional real-life story of medical activism." ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''s film critic thinks "Matthew McConaughey continues to amaze."
David Denby David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014. Early life and education Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'' talked about McConaughey's physical transformation in his words, "It's McConaughey's spiritual transformation that is most remarkable. His gaze is at once desperate and challenging."
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
's
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
said, " atthew McConaughey'sexplosive, unerring portrayal defines what makes an actor great, blazing commitment to a character and the range to make every nuance felt." Film critic Rex Reed reviewed the film for ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'' and said, "Dallas Buyers Club represents the best of what independent film on a limited budget can achieve-powerful, enlightening and not to be missed." ''
The Wrap ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
''s Alonso Duralde said why he watched the film, "McConaughey is the only reason to see ''Dallas Buyers Club,'' but he's enough of a reason to see ''Dallas Buyers Club.''" Film critic Betsy Sharkey reviewed for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', " cConaughey and Letoelevate the movie beyond ordinary biography or overplayed tragedy, and give Oscar-worthy performances in the process." Sharkey expressed her compliments about Leto's performance, "Leto's performance, though, is the revelation. ... It's a hauntingly authentic performance; the tailored suit he puts on to meet with his disapproving father is one of the film's most moving scenes." Peter Debruge of Variety said, "Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto give terrific performances in this riveting and surprisingly relatable true story." Leto's portrayal of Rayon, a drug-addicted
trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may Gender transitioning, transition; this process commonly includes Feminizing horm ...
with AIDS who befriends McConaughey's character Ron Woodroof, received critical acclaim. The writers created Rayon, to show "Woodroof's gradual acceptance of a subculture he had dismissed."For 25 Days, Transsexual to the Core:Jared Leto Stayed in Character on 'Dallas buyers Club' Set
/ref> ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
''s Richard Corliss noted, "Leto captures the sweet intensity and almost saintly good humor of a glamorous, poignant and downright divoon creature — a blithe Camille who may surrender her health but never her panache." Leto was awarded an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
,
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, a
Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and ...
, and a variety of film critics' circle awards. After the 86th Academy Awards ceremony, the casting of a non-
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
actor was critiqued as a missed opportunity, with some
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...
activists criticizing the choice as transmisogynistic. A guest blogger published on the ''L.A. Times'' website compared the issue to white actors appropriating, and exploiting, the roles of East Asians and
Africans African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
in the past; and guest contributors noted in ''The Guardian'' and ''The Independent'' that transgender actors are often relegated to roles such as prostitutes, corpses and "freaks."


Accolades

''Dallas Buyers Club'' received six nominations at the 86th Academy Awards:
Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
for McConaughey, Best Supporting Actor for Leto, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing for Martin Pensa and Vallée (Vallée being credited under the pseudonym "John Mac McMurphy"), and Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews. McConaughey and Leto won Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively – the first film since '' Mystic River'' 10 years earlier to receive both awards and only the fifth overall to do so. Lee and Mathews won the Best Makeup and Hairstyling, although Mathews had a budget of only $250. The film received two
Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and ...
s, for
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
(McConaughey) and Best Supporting Actor (Leto); it was also nominated for Best Cast. At the 71st Golden Globe Awards McConaughey and Leto again won Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture respectively. The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Writers Guild of America Awards, while Leto's performance won a range of awards from critics groups, including the
New York Film Critics Circle The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, maga ...
and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The
National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
named ''Dallas Buyers Club'' one of the top ten independent films of 2013.


Historical accuracy

The characters of Rayon and Dr. Eve Saks were fictional; the writers had interviewed transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors for the film and combined these stories to create the two composite supporting roles. However, Woodroof did lose all his friends after they found out he was HIV-positive. In his interviews with Borten, Woodroof implied that this, along with interactions with gay people living with AIDS through the buyers club, led to a rethinking of his apparent anti-gay sentiments and changed his views on gay people. Other people who knew him said that he did not harbor anti-gay sentiments and was himself
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...
. Also, while a rodeo enthusiast, he never rode any bulls himself. Although the film shows Woodroof diagnosed in 1985, he told Borten that a doctor had informed him he might have had the disease well before that; Woodroof believed that he may have been infected in 1981, something that was briefly alluded to in a flashback in the film. While Woodroof was known for outlandish behavior, according to those who knew him, both the film and McConaughey made him rougher than he actually was; ''The Dallas Morning News'' has reported that Woodroof was "outrageous, but not confrontational" and that people who knew him felt that his portrayal as "rampantly homophobic" early in the film was inaccurate.Sherry Jacobson
The real story behind the 'Dallas Buyers Club' movie
, ''The Dallas Morning News'', November 1, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013. The real Woodroof also had a sister and a daughter who were not approached by the writers and were left out of the script to make the film more of a character study. The visual blog ''
Information is Beautiful David McCandless (born 1971) is a British data-journalist, writer and information designer. Early life and education McCandless is an alumnus of Westfield College. Career McCandless is the founder of the visual blog ''Information Is Beautiful''. ...
'' deduced that, while taking creative license into account, the film was 61.4% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing that the film seemed "like an authentically true-story with liberties taken".


Drug treatments

The film implies that the drug and vitamin regimen promoted by Woodroof was safer and more effective than the drugs being issued in hospitals and tested by the FDA at the time, but this has been criticized by numerous observers. Daniel D'Addario, in an article in ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...
'', suggests that "the film's take is perilously close to endorsing pseudoscience." Woodroof frequently declares that the drug AZT ( azidothymidine) is ineffective and counter-productive, yet years later it is still prescribed to patients with AIDS, albeit at a much lower dose (as mentioned in the
epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring c ...
). Medical historian Jonathan Engel, who wrote ''The Epidemic: A History of AIDS'', states that AZT was in fact a relatively effective treatment for the period, consistently prolonging lives for a year at a time when AIDS had a 100% mortality rate. Journalist
David France David Harry France, (born 30 June 1948) is an author, football historian and philanthropist. Throughout the past two decades, he has been the driving force behind numerous initiatives related to Everton Football Club including Gwladys Street's H ...
, who directed the documentary '' How to Survive a Plague'', suggested that AZT was actually "the first element of a cocktail of drugs that ended the era of AIDS-as-death sentence". Initial attempts to use high doses of AZT proved to be no more effective than smaller doses, but HIV/AIDS activist Peter Staley (who was consulted by the filmmakers) believes this was not the result of any conspiracy – initially medical researchers had to guess what dose would be effective and they feared a low dose would be ineffective. Eventually, researchers realized that AZT was ineffective in the long term because the HIV virus mutated and became resistant to the treatment. By the mid-1990s,
David Ho David Da-i Ho (; born November 3, 1952) is a Taiwanese-American AIDS researcher, physician, and virologist who has made a number of scientific contributions to the understanding and treatment of HIV infection. He is the founding scientific d ...
and other researchers found AZT was quite effective when used in conjunction with two other anti-virals, which decreased the chances of virus developing resistance to any one drug. The treatments that Woodroof did promote were less-effective at best, or at worst, dangerous. According to Staley, Woodroof became a proponent of Peptide T, a treatment which "never panned out. It's a useless therapy, and it never got approved, and nobody uses it today, but the film implies that it helped him." DDC, also promoted by Woodroof, did prove to be an effective antiviral treatment, but it also proved to have worse side effects than AZT, with the potential to cause irreversible nerve damage in some cases. As a result, it was only used by doctors for a relatively short time. A third treatment promoted by Woodroof, called Compound Q ( Trichosanthin), was specifically linked to two deaths during trials, and therefore, was not used by doctors thereafter. Most "buyers clubs" stopped providing it as well, but Woodroof continued to dispense it, part of the reason for Woodroof's conflict with the FDA.


Copyright enforcement by the film's makers


Canada

Canadian law firm Aird & Berlis filed a court case on behalf of their client Dallas Buyers Club LLC against 17 "John Doe" defendants for alleged piracy of their movie.


Australia

Makers of ''Dallas Buyers Club'' have attempted to aggressively enforce their copyrights by serving discovery orders on Australian internet service providers (ISPs). iiNet, one of the ISPs served with a discovery application, stated it has "serious concerns" that the film's makers will look to intimidate subscribers. Steve Dalby, iiNet's chief regulatory officer, said: "We are concerned that our customers will be unfairly targeted to settle claims out of court using a practice called 'speculative invoicing. Information of up to 4,700 subscribers were being sought for allegedly downloading the film before its box office release. In April 2015, an Australian federal judge, Justice Nye Perram ruled that ISPs must hand over contact information related to the IP addresses associated with sharing the movie. In August 2015 the Australian Federal Court refused the application for film makers of Dallas Buyers Club to force ISPs to hand over the details of their customers. The courts found that the contents of the letter, proposed by the film makers to contact downloaders with, were more demanding than deemed appropriate. The letter was found to ask for such details as salary and other films that were downloaded, as well as punitive damages, which are illegal to seek under Australian law. In December 2015, Justice Perram dismissed the Dallas Buyers Club LLC case against iiNet entirely unless an appeal were filed by February 11, 2016. The judge remarked upon DBC's attempts to claim costs for a worldwide non-exclusive distribution agreement, concluding that "DBC's contention was wholly unrealistic; indeed, I went so far as to describe it as 'surreal. Perram also required posting a $600,000 bond to the court should the suit proceed.


Singapore

Dallas Buyer Club LLC successfully obtained a court order against two major ISPs Starhub and M1 to reveal customers who have allegedly downloaded illegal copies of the movie. In April 2015, Samuel Seow Law Corporation represented the owners in sending
demand letters A demand letter, letter of demand, (of payment), or letter before claim, is a letter stating a legal claim (usually drafted by a lawyer) which makes a demand for restitution or performance of some obligation, owing to the recipients' alleged brea ...
to more than 500 subscribers asking for a written offer of damages and costs. A few days later,
Singtel Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly known as Singtel, is a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate and one of the four major telcos operating in the country. The company is the largest mobile network operator in Singapore with ...
was also issued a court order to reveal 150 of its subscribers for alleged illegal downloading. President Harish Pillay and Vice-President Professor Ang Peng Hwa of the Singapore
Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people ...
(ISOC) Chapter stated, that "threatening subscribers won't stop
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
". This is the second reported instance of a major legal action taken by a media company against individuals in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
for alleged illegal downloading since Odex's actions against file-sharing in 2007.


United States

Beginning in 2014, Voltage Pictures filed nearly 150 multi-defendant "John Doe" lawsuits against internet users identified only by their IP addresses, alleging illegal downloading of the film. Despite statutory damages claims of $150,000, users reported settling claims with the film maker for $5,000 to $8,000.


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dallas Buyers Club 2013 biographical drama films 2013 independent films 2013 films American biographical drama films American independent films American LGBT-related films Films about gender Cross-dressing in American films Entertainment One films Films directed by Jean-Marc Vallée Films set in Mexico Drama films based on actual events Films based on newspaper and magazine articles Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films set in Dallas Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s Films shot in New Orleans Films that won the Academy Award for Best Makeup Focus Features films HIV/AIDS in American films LGBT-related drama films LGBT-related films based on actual events Films about trans women Voltage Pictures films 2013 LGBT-related films 2013 drama films Films about anti-LGBT sentiment LGBT-related controversies in film Casting controversies in film 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films about disability