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Dallas Buyers Club | 2013 | R | - 8.5.10

A man (Matthew McConaughey) diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1986 undertakes the task of finding medicines that will treat the disease and prolong his life, beyond the realm of FDA-approved treatments. Also with Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O'Hare, Steve Zahn, Dallas Roberts, Kevin Rankin and Griffin Dunne. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. [1:57]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - Two women dance close together and kiss while a man watches them; one of the women and a man have sex (we see the man thrusting from behind (the woman's bare breasts abdomen, back and legs are seen as well as the man's bare chest abdomen and back) and the other woman joins them (we see her bare buttocks, back and abdomen) and wraps her legs around the first woman. A nude man and a nude woman (we see bare abdomens and backs but no genitals or buttocks) are shown having sex in a pornographic movie (we see the man thrusting on top of the woman and hear moaning). A woman dances on a bed while a man watches from a chair; she removes her bra (we see her bare breasts, abdomen, back and legs) and unfastens his pant before he pushes her away and begins to cry.
 A man and a woman have sex in a rodeo stall while the man watches a bull rider in the ring; we see the man thrusting from behind (heavily shadowed and focusing on the man from the shoulders up) and we hear them both moaning and grunting; another woman enters the stall and the man has sex with her also (again, heavily shadowed). A man and a woman have sex in a bathroom and we see the man thrusting as they both moan and grunt (no nudity is visible); people outside the bathroom hear the moaning and rhythmic pounding. A man remembers having sex with a woman and we see him thrusting in heavy shadow and grunting (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
 We hear rhythmic breathing and it is implied that a man is masturbating while looking at pictures of topless women hanging on a wall (we see the women's bare breasts and abdomen and part of their bare thighs).
 Topless women wearing thong panties dance in a strip club and we see men watching them (we see bare breasts and abdomens, backs, legs and full buttocks); we see a woman's bare buttocks and between her legs (no genitals) when she bends forward. A woman tending bar wears a deeply cut vest that reveals ample cleavage and a transsexual admires her breasts and talks about how good they would look on him. We see a picture on the wall of a man's trailer of a bare-breasted woman wearing a thong-type bottom in several scenes (her bare breasts, abdomen and side of her bare buttock are seen). A man's hospital gown hangs open in the back revealing his bare buttocks, legs and bag. A man's bare back, jockey-style underwear and legs are shown when his hospital gown opens in the back. We see several sick people in beds in a makeshift clinic and one man's hospital gown is open to expose his jockey shorts, bare back and legs. An emaciated transsexual is shown topless and his bare chest, abdomen and back are seen as he holds a dress up in front of him. A transsexual man wears a low-cut dress that reveals bare chest, shoulders and back to the waist.
 People are shown drinking and dancing in a gay bar; two men dance together with thrusting hips and one grabs the other's crotch, male bartenders dance behind the bar and one is bare-chested, and one couple is shown kissing.
 A man reads about unprotected sex being a way to contract HIV/AIDS. A man talks about another man having a $100 hooker if he can stay on a bull for 8 seconds. A man asks another man if the women in Saudi Arabia are "hot" and the other man tells him that it is a Muslim country where you are not allowed to have sex with the women (using a crude term). A man describes women in a clinic as "hot nurses." A transsexual man calls another man "sweetie" and "darlin'." A man says that another man has a "hard on for me" in an aggressive context.
 A man urinates and we hear the trickle, and then see him fastening his pants (no nudity is visible). A man says, "Watch what you eat and who you eat."
 A transsexual man is shown wearing women's clothing, makeup and painted fingernails. A reference is made to a transsexual man wanting to have gender re-assignment surgery.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man calls another man names and the second man lunges toward him (he is held back by other men), he yells and moves toward him again, then spits on him (we do not see the spittle). Several men chase another man and he climbs fences and runs through a parking lot toward a police officer, begging him to arrest him; the officer declines until the man punches him in the face and the officer punches him back twice and puts handcuffs on him (we see blood on the mouth and teeth of the cuffed man). A man holds another man around the throat and twists his arm back while forcing him to shake hands with a transsexual man. A man tries to punch another man but misses and falls to the ground where he lies motionless (we see him in the hospital later). A man attacks another man and calls him a "murderer" as he is dragged out of the room by two security guards.
 A man is shown trapped under a heavy piece of machinery (we see blood on his clothes and leg) and men attempt to free him while another man hesitates to call an ambulance because the man is an "illegal." A man attempts to shut down a piece of equipment and is shocked (we see a flash and then see the man wake up in a hospital with a bloody gash on his head).
 A bull rider at a rodeo is shown on lying motionless on the ground after having been thrown (his condition is not clear). A bull rider straps himself onto the back of a bull and is released; we see the bull bucking and spinning and the rider is thrown (he gets up and appears OK). A man climbs onto the back of a bull, straps his hand under a rope and is released from the pen; we see the bull bucking and the rider holding on (they scene ends).
 A man injects himself in the arm with a very potent chemical that causes him to have a heart attack (he gasps and falls to the floor); we see him recuperating in the hospital later. People in a hospital setting are shown receiving AZT and we see some with darkened patches on their skin from the drug's toxicity.
 A man returns home to his trailer to find an eviction notice on the door, the locks changed and crude insults painted on the walls; he retrieves a shotgun from his trunk and shoots the front door open, roots through the inside for money and leaves while yelling obscenities at the neighbors. A woman hammers several holes in a wall out of frustration. A man confronts a representative of the FDA and a pharmaceutical representative in a meeting as he is escorted out of the building by a security guard.
 A transsexual man coughs up blood and cries that he doesn't want to die (we see blood trickling out of his mouth). A man remembers having sex with a woman and we see the woman's arm with blood on it that could suggest IV drug use. A man coughs deeply in several scenes and appears ill; he stumbles and collapses to the floor in one scene and wakes up hours later. A man yells in pain when his leg cramps and a transsexual man rubs his leg and tells him that he is dehydrated. A man cries and moans desperately while sitting in his car and holding a gun in his hand. We see two men injecting themselves in the hip/buttock with a hypodermic and we see red marks in the area from previous injections. We see a couple of patients lying motionless on gurneys in a hospital hallway.
 A man insults a transsexual man when he speaks to him in a hospital and moves away from him as if he contagious. A man speaks disparagingly about a man having died from AIDS using derogatory terms for homosexuals. A man asks another man if doctors "cut your [anatomical term deleted] off?" A man talks about having been told he had a sexually transmitted infection. A man threatens to kick another man in the face. A man yells for a doctor and when a woman approaches and asks how she can help the man says, "I don't want a nurse, I want a doctor" to which the woman replies that she is a doctor. A man is told by two doctors that he has tested positive for HIV and that he has 30 days left to live; he becomes angry and yells at the doctors. We see several sick people in beds in a makeshift clinic. A man yells at a transsexual man for being high and tells him to leave. A man talks about side effects of an illness and medical treatment including chronic memory loss and impotence. A man says that another man has a "hard on for me" in an aggressive context.
 A man stops his car in an intersection, gets out while holding his head (we hear a high-pitched noise) and wanders around almost being struck by cars that honk and drivers yell at him.
 An empty hospital bed is shown as a man folds the clothing of the person who used to be in the bed. We read newspaper headlines about an actor having died from AIDS. We read that a man lived for 7 years after having been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. We read that many people were treated successfully with AZT in lower doses.
 A man urinates and we hear the trickle, and then see him fastening his pants (no nudity is visible). Many moths flutter around a room and light all over a man as he raises his arms out to the side. A man appears to be praying for a sign while drinking and smoking in a strip club.

LANGUAGE 10 - About 104 F-words and its derivatives, 7 obscene hand gestures, 11 sexual references, 35 scatological terms, 22 anatomical terms, 19 mild obscenities, 13 derogatory terms for homosexuals (2 painted on the walls of a man's trailer), 1 derogatory term for Asians, 1 derogatory term for Saudi Arabians, name-calling (tough old outlaw, murderer, sweetheart, sugar cakes, Tinker Bell, monkey, sissy judge, white trash, whatever you are, idiot, snake, doll, sorry [anatomical term deleted]), 19 religious profanities (GD), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. God, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, Jesus, My Lord, Oh My Lord).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man having sex with two women in a rodeo stall (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details) snorts cocaine (we hear the snort and see white powder on his nose), a man appears to be selling drugs to another man (it's not clear what type), a man snorts cocaine while smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol in several scenes, two men snort cocaine and drink alcohol, a man is shown taking AZT pills while drinking alcohol and snorting cocaine in a few scenes, people in a hospital setting are shown receiving AZT (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), a man injects himself in the arm with something (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), we see two men injecting themselves in the hip/buttock with a hypodermic and we see red marks in the area from previous injections, a man takes several medications by mouth and we see many containers on a counter, a woman snorts several lines of cocaine, a man drags his IV pole into a meeting, and a man injects another man in the arm with a hypodermic needle. A bull rider takes a shot of alcohol from a bottle before the stall is opened for his ride, a man wakes up after falling unconscious and takes a shot of alcohol from a bottle, a man gives a man trapped under a heavy piece of machinery a shot of alcohol, two women and a man do shots of alcohol while dancing close together, people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes in many bar scenes, a man takes a shot of alcohol in a strip club and we see other patrons with drinks in front of them, a man drinks alcohol from a bottle in several scenes, people are shown drinking alcohol in a gay bar, a woman drinks wine alone in her apartment in a couple of scenes, a man and a woman drink wine with a dinner, and a man drinks a shot of alcohol before climbing onto a bull's back. People are shown smoking cigarettes throughout the movie, and people are shown smoking cigarettes outside a support group meeting.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - HIV/AIDS, homophobia, FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, AZT, side effects of AZT, toxicity of AZT, blind studies, smuggling medicine across borders, bullying tactics, terminal illness, unprotected sex, drug regulation, drug testing, 1980s.

MESSAGE - Fighting against all odds can lead to change.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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