Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club" at the Figge Art Museum -- June 11.
Thursday, June 11, 6 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Presented as the second in a month-long series of screenings held in celebration of Pride Month, the three-time Oscar-winning drama Dallas Buyers Club enjoys a June 11 screening at the Figge Art Museum, this special series made possible by the Art Bridges Foundation in conjunction with the Felix Gonzalez-Torres exhibition now on view at the Davenport venue.
Written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack and directed by the late Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s, a time when both the etiology and the treatment of HIV/AIDS are poorly understood and its sufferers subject to stigma. As part of an ongoing experimental AIDS treatment movement, Woodroof smuggles unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas to treat his symptoms. Here, he distributes them to fellow people with AIDS by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club", all the while facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two fictional supporting characters, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), and Rayon (Jared Leto), were composite roles created from interviews with transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors. Presidential biographer and PEN-USA winner Bill Minutaglio wrote the first magazine profile of the Dallas Buyers Club in 1992. The article, which featured interviews with Woodroof and also recreated his dramatic international exploits, attracted widespread attention from filmmakers and journalists.
Screenwriter Borten interviewed Woodroof in 1992 and wrote the script, which he polished with writer Wallack in 2000, and then sold to producer Robbie Brenner. Several other actors, directors, and producers were attached at various times to the development of the film, but left the project. Universal Pictures also tried to make the film, but did not. A couple of screenwriters wrote drafts that were rejected. In 2009, producer Brenner involved Matthew McConaughey because of his Texan origins, the same as Woodroof's. Brenner selected the first draft, written by Borten and Wallack, for the film and then Vallée was set to direct. Principal photography began in November 2012 in New Orleans, continuing for 25 days of filming, which also included shooting in Baton Rouge. Brenner and Rachel Winter co-produced the film.
Dallas Buyers Club premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on November 1, 2013, by Focus Features, entering wide release on November 22. The film grossed $55 million worldwide against a $5 million budget and received widespread critical acclaim, resulting in numerous accolades. Critics praised the performances of McConaughey and Leto, who respectively received the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 86th Academy Awards, making this the first film since Mystic River (2003), and only the fifth film ever to win both awards. The film won the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and garnered nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.
Dallas Buyers Club will be screened in Davenport's John Deere Auditorium on June 11, the 6 p.m. showing preceded by live music in the Figge Cafe with singer/songwriter Eva Kendall, who will perform from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
