It can be tough to explain my man-crush on Matthew McConaughey to people who haven’t kept up with his epic run since late 2011 of Bernie, Killer Joe, Mud, and Magic Mike; and who still think of him as the guy from Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Fool’s Gold. For the record, I prefer to think of him as the guy who has your hoodie in his truck and the guy who has a nephew named “Miller Lyte McConaughey,” but tomayto tomahto.
In any case, the man has been on a tear, and it should be recognized, even if those shrivs at the Academy refuse. He looks poised, nay, stoked, to continue this streak of interesting roles, with Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street opening in November, and Dallas Buyer’s Club in December. The latter plays TIFF in a few weeks, and just released a new batch of images.
Official synopsis, via ThePlaylist:
In 1986, the AIDS crisis was still a misunderstood horror, withering then taking its victims, alarming the public and confounding the doctors who sought a cure. In Texas, Ron Woodruff stood beyond the fear of AIDS. He was clueless. So when this boozing, foul-mouthed, womanizing heterosexual contracted HIV, his response was instinctive: Bullshit.
Dallas Buyers Club draws on his true story. When Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) is told that he has only thirty days to live, he pleads with a doctor (Jennifer Garner) for what was then an experimental drug, AZT. But he refuses to submit to a clinical trial, so he steals the drug — taking his first dose with a beer chaser and a snort of cocaine. When the AZT dosage makes him sick, he seeks out alternative medicine. Never one to heed rules, Woodruff smuggles unapproved treatments over the border from Mexico. Along the way, he strikes up an unlikely alliance with Rayon, a sleek but troubled drag queen, played with stunning conviction by Jared Leto. The pair teams up to sell treatments to the growing numbers of HIV and AIDS patients unwilling to wait for the medical establishment to save them. It’s a classic story of American enterprise.
At first I was worried, because losing 30 pounds to play an AIDS victim sounds like the kind of awards-bait, look-how-hard-I’m-acting role that… well, that Jared Leto would take, come to think of it. That guy is method actor without a role. But now that I know McConaughey’s character is a shit-talking Texan AIDS victim, all is right with the world. I like McConaughey as an actor, but he’s at his best when he’s not acting very hard. I’m pretty sure Magic Mike and Dazed and Confused were 95% autobiographical.
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From the looks of it, this movie is just two hours of Matthew McConaughey giving people intense talking tos, and I’m just fine with that.
[A couple more pics at ThePlaylist]