Director
Jean-Marc Vallee
Leading Actors/Actresses
Matthew McConaughey
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, David O'Hare, Steve Zhan
Genre
Biography, Drama
Language
English
Awards
Won 3 Academy Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Matthew McConaughey, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Jared Leto,Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling - Adruitha Lee & Robin Mathews
Date of Release
2013
Producer
Robbie Brenner, Rachel Winter
Setting and Context
Dallas - 1985, During the intial outbreak of the AIDS epidemic
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Ron
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist/Antagonist is Ron. Protagonists are Rayon and Eve. Antagonists are Dr. Sevard and Tucker.
Major Conflict
Woodruff contracts AIDS and seeks medical treatment from a doctor in Mexico that will prolong his life. The drugs aren't FDA approved and can't be purchased in America so he, along with Rayon, sets up The Dallas Buyers Club to helps AIDS patients purchase the drugs.
Climax
Woodruff has to fight the FDA in court as they won't allow him to continue to take/sell the drugs that are actually helping him and others. Rayon dies of AIDS and Woodruff survives years longer than the life expectancy he's given by the doctors.
Foreshadowing
The first meeting between Ron and Rayon foreshadows this is a relationship that Ron will have to learn to connect with rather than reject.
Understatement
It is understated that Dr. Saks will help to fight the medical profession.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film is an allusion to the reality of stereotyping and the injustice and prejudice that has been and continues to be perpetrated upon people who have AIDS.
Paradox
Ron is a man's man, a cowboy who doesn't show great emotion. Paradoxically he learns to love people he's never accepted before in his life and it reveals who he truly is as a human being.
Parallelism
The FDA filing an injunction against Ron parallels Dr. Sevard telling Ron what he must put in his body in order to live - all political and capitalistic half-truths.
