Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 464: Scenes from the McConaissance

During the first decade of the 21st century Matthew McConaughey was seen as a little bit of a joke due to his presence in a number of sub-par romantic comedies. However, in the 2010s something magical happened and the actor started appearing in a string of critically-acclaimed movies. The actor's return to form, dubbed by some as the McConaissance, featured appearances in film such as Mud and Killer Joe. McConaughey finally won his Oscar at the 2014 ceremony after losing 47 pounds to play rodeo cowboy and AIDs victim Rod Woodruf in Dallas Buyers Club.


The film concentrates on the true story of Woodruf, who was given 30 days to live after contracting HIV but ends up using his own survival instincts to stay alive for seven years. Despite catching the disease after sleeping with a woman, the redneck community that Ron has grown up in dismiss him for being a homosexual. Ron's attitude to gay people is equally backward and its only after contracting the disease that he starts to change his mind about them. Part of the film is devoted to Ron's attempts at self-medicating and illegally purchasing the so-called wonder drug AZT to stay alive for longer. It's only when he collapses in Mexico that he learns the true side effects of AZT and meets a doctor who describes different medication for him to take. Ron's attitude about differing cultures continue when he meets the transgendered Rayon and eventually goes into business with her to sell non-FDA approved drugs to AIDs victims. Ron and Rayon set up the titular club in which they charge a monthly membership in return for the supply of drugs that they wouldn't get at a hospital. Although Dallas Buyers Club is a film about accepting those who are different to you the film never lapses into that much sentimentality. The only real emotional moment that occurs in the film is Rayon's death scene and Ron's later reaction when he learns of his friend's demise. The courtroom scenes, which feature Ron's further clashes with the FDA, are similarly brief but nonetheless really made me sympathise with his character a lot more. By the end of Dallas Buyers Club I'd really emotionally connected with the story and especially Ron's battle with the authorities.

Dallas Buyers Club's best attribute is probably its two central performances which were both rewarded with Oscars. Matthew McConaughey is absolutely fantastic as the hard-drinking, womanising Ron who later learns plenty of life lessons when he's at death door. McConaughey portrays Ron as a cocky character whose literal fight with AIDs resulting in his creation of the club. Interestingly, only a few years before, McConaughey was seen as nothing more than a romantic comedy lead and most had written him off as a serious actor. However, his performance in Dallas Buyers Club was the latest in the actor's career rebirth and demonstrated how effective his swaggering persona could be. Although Ron's attitude changes, McConaughey never loses sight of Woodruf's character and he remains a stubborn cowboy till his very last days. McConaughey also shared brilliant chemistry with Jared Leto who was utterly convincing as transgendered Rayon. Although I wasn't as crazy about his performance as some other people were I felt he gave a tender portrayal of a man who had rejected his family in order to be who he truly wanted to be. Despite Leto and McConaughey being well-utilised, I felt Jennifer Garner was under used as one of Ron's Doctors Eve Saks. Eve is the one member of the medical profession who believes that Ron is doing good and later almost begins a romance with him. It appears to me as if the writers weren't quite sure what to do with Eve and therefore he became an imbalanced character. In addition to the magnificent performances, the film's use of sound was tremendous as a loud speaker sound played every time Ron was about to pass out. Jean-Marc Vallée made sure his film was well-paced and this was aided by some excellent cinematography and editing. Ultimately Dallas Buyers Club was a film that dealt with terminal illness but didn't wallow in sentiment and I found that to be rather refreshing. I also developed an emotional connection with the characters and by the end of the film I'm not ashamed to admit that I had a little tear in my eye.

Next up is a look at two films from a director who we've seen a lot off during this blog.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 321: Terry's All-Stars

I do feel that when a director has achieved particular acclaim he can get away with most things. Terrence Malick is one such director who was well on his way to being a legend after helming Badlands and Days of Heaven in the 1970s. Malick took a twenty year hiatus following Days of Heaven so when it was announced that he'd be returning to the screen plenty of actors wanted a role in his new film. Luckily he was able to accommodate a fair few big names into The Thin Red Line, a film focusing on the Battle of Mount Austin fought in the Pacific between the Americans and the Japanese. Malick's first cut of the film was supposedly five hours long and obviously had to be cut down substantially to half of that original length. Even then I feel that the copy of The Thin Red Line I watched was overlong and confusing in some regards. One of my main issues was that of the duelling narration between Jim Caviezel's Private Witt and Nick Nolte's Lt. Col. Tall. Witt's story is that of a man who is dissatisfied with army life while Tall is trying to prove himself to his superiors who feel that a man of his advancing years shouldn't still be at war. Because of this Tall makes some risky decisions and it's one of his final choices that has an impact on the team. Events become even more complicated when Malick introduces another story later in the film as Ben Chaplin's Private Bell discovers his wife wants a divorce. The fact that both Caviezel and Chaplin are given voiceovers was rather confusing as at times I couldn't really tell the pair apart. It was only after he nobly died to save his comrades was when I realised that Witt was meant to be the hero of the piece. That alone should tell you that Malick's script was confusing and that some of what was cut from the film may have been important.

Spare a thought then for poor Adrien Brody, who prior to the release of The Thin Red Line had told people that he was the main focus of the film. After watching the film Brody's appearance amounted to nothing more than a five minute cameo towards the conclusion. Brody was understandably upset by the decision and he feels that Malick should have at least have informed of the changes that had been made prior to the film's screening. But at least Brody made into the film which is more than can be said for the likes of Martin Sheen, Micky Rourke, Gary Oldman and Billy Bob Thronton who all had their scenes cut entirely. As there are so many big names floating around it's incredibly hard to single out one or two actors to praise their performances in the film. Nick Nolte probably gives the best turn as the weary Tall and both Sean Penn and John Cusack made good impressions during their extended cameos. Like with most Malick films, the strongest aspect of The Thin Red Line is in its visuals. John Toll's cinematography is outstanding, especially when we follow the soldiers inside the long grass where they hide during their attacks. Toll's point-of-view shots really make you feel part of the action and in a way add to our understanding of what war might have been like for these men. But to me there was almost too much of a focus on arty camerawork and not enough done on character development. I personally wasn't a fan of certain characters reminiscing about their families back home and thought these scenes represented Malick's undisciplined approach to film-making. Hans Zimmer's score really helped the film achieve the emotional tone it was looking for especially when it accompanied The Thin Red Line's battle scenes. But that being said, ultimately I found The Thin Red Line to be a beautifully shot war film that really never compelled me to care about specific character. Rather than changing my views about Malick as a film-maker its simply reinforced them and I've still not be able to see what others do in this supposedly great director.

Next time we look at three films from a respected British actor who appeared in two Best Picture winners during the 1990s.