Dallas Buyers Club (15)

The problem with a film that comes along with a lot of hype, buzz and awards broo-ha-ha is that, by the time you come to watching them, you're already figuring it just can't be THAT good.

We've seen it already this year with The Wolf Of Wall Street and Inside Llewyn Davis - good films, sure, but falling some way of the hype.

And now we have Dallas Buyers Club - a film I was itching to see the minute I heard the story.

Because it's a story that needs to be told.

Also, Matthew McConaughey was reportedly giving the performance of his life - which is no small claim given his recent work.

So it was with no small sense of trepidation that I took my seat.

And within minutes I knew all would be well.

The key to this film is McConaughey - and not just because he's playing Ron Woodruff, the homophobic bigot who formed the titular Club back in the 80s as a way of circumnavigating American drug laws to ensure those dealing with HIV and Aids could get treatment that would actually help.

Woodruff is not a nice guy. A rampant womaniser, he's almost leader of the militant wing of the heterosexual brigade - something which makes it all the harder for him to understand and accept his diagnosis.

HIV? That's a gay disease, right?

And yet, despite his deplorable character traits, you kinda don't hate him - and as you go on this journey with him, you warm to him all the more as he grows and changes as a human being.

And I know that sounds sappy, but trust me - it's not.

Key to Woodruff's personal development is Rayon, a drug addict transsexual (played sublimely by Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars fame) who delights in putting up pictures of Marc Bolan all round the office.

The friendship that grows between these two is at the heart of the movie, and as the political commentary about the issues surrounding a business-led health service develops, so two does the strength of Ron and Rayon's relationship.

But this is no Broke Back Bromance. There's no changing teams here - that's not the point of the film. This is an underdog story, the little guy trying to do the right thing even if the system says it's wrong.

The fact this is a true story adds weight to the grit and realism that director Jean-Marc Vallee has brought to the screen. No sugar coating here.

Much has been made about how 'funny' Dallas Buyers Club is, and while it does have it's lighter moments this is in no way a light movie.

Along with Ron we have to face his condition, along with Rayon we have to face a world he doesn't fit in to, with Dr Eve (a strong performance by Jennifer Garner) we have to navigate murky moral waters - and we also have to face up to our own views and prejudices.

Like Ron, you may think HIV and Aids is limited to one small section of society, like me you may not react well to a life-changing diagnosis (well, extremely life limiting in Ron's case), but what this film tells you is that people can change and people can over-come just about anything.

Strangely, one of the things that really impressed me was just how determined a previously lazy bigot can be as Ron investigates and then tracks down alternative treatments.

It's no surprise that Dallas Buyers Club is bothering this year's Oscar nominations - the subject matter alone made it a shoe-in - but the two central performances of McConaughey and Leto are just so sublime that you almost want them to just hand over the gongs now.

And if we're really lucky, that may be enough to stop Leto making music...

This isn't to say Dallas Buyers Club is perfect, it's not. It's a tad too long and drags it's heels a bit in the final third almost as if Vallee decided two hours was the required Oscar length.

But that really is the only negative.

This is a challenging, thought-provoking film that manages to put heart and emotion first and in so doing take the edge off what could have been quite a bleak tale (Out Of The Furnace take note).

It also manages to cover the seedier, sleazier elements of the story with far more subtlety and finesse than The Wolf Of Wall Street. Not that that would have been tricky.

This film will make you sad, it will make you cry, it should make you angry - but above all that, it will re-affirm your belief in Hollywood's ability to tell a tale so well that you're still thinking about it days after.