Jmunney's Blog

Dallas Buyers Club is primarily about two things: Ron Woodroof’s enlightenment and his fight against the DEA.  I do not know how well the movie’s depiction of Woodroof’s change in attitude regarding homosexuals accurately captured the real-life version.  By the end, he still wasn’t comfortable with pictures of George Michael adorning his wall, but he was tolerant enough that he could actually be friends with gay and trans people, and that was a huge change from the good ol’ homophobic cowboy he was introduced as.  Frankly, at least as far as the success of the movie itself is concerned, I don’t think it matters how accurately this evolution captured real life.  More important is the internal logic of the story as it was presented.  Woodroof’s change of heart may have strained credulity, but the way he changed is kind of the way that people’s prejudices go away.  That is to say, he got to know the people he was prejudiced against.  The development that prompted this change may have been self-focused, but it wasn’t selfish: ultimately, Woodroof was a bigger fan of surviving than he was of gay-bashing, and he realized soon enough that making gay friends increased his chances of living.

DBC‘s anti-Drug Enforcement Administration stance is a little simplistic, but purposefully so, in that the movie is primarily Woodroof’s story.  He does his research to determine what AIDS treatments are most effective, but he is not a doctor, so he does not have the years of experiences that would presumably be necessary for someone to make the best determination.  So his dismissal of AZT may not be completely warranted, but his frustration with the government absolutely is.  Woodroof’s is a forceful personality, with an unwavering focus, which is so essential when a crisis is at its most desperate, and that is why his story works as one of the most inspiring movies of the past few years.  This story required a commanding lead performance, and no surprise that is what was delivered from Matthew McConaughey in the midst of his career renaissance.

The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program was established as part of the Allied Armies in 1943 to retrieve artwork stolen by the Nazis.  The Monuments Men, the movie about this program, showed me these retrieval efforts, but it did not make me feel these retrieval efforts.  That is not entirely true, as there were moments when I my heart responded to the film’s tugging.  But overall, the effect this movie left on me was noble, but flat.  The emotions were believable, but some of them felt a little rote.  There is one oddly pitched scene in which Bill Murray’s character, Richard Campbell, receives a recording of some family members singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which Bob Balaban’s character, Preston Savitz, plays for him, and it basically came out of nowhere.  Actually, Murray and Balaban’s whole dynamic is off.  They are supposed to be an antagonistic odd couple who eventually come around to be great friends, but I never got the sense that they didn’t love hanging out with each other, Balaban’s constantly bemused face notwithstanding.

Monuments Men does not fail completely.  Frank Stokes’ (George Clooney) speeches to FDR that bookend the film make a grand case for why this endeavor needed to be taken on and why it ought to be continued after the war’s end.  Essentially, the story itself is the selling point.  It is hard to screw up completely.  And with a cast this talented, it is unlikely that the result is going to be a complete waste of everyone’s time.  But this isn’t the best work of anyone involved.  I feel like Clooney works best as a director when he has a commanding lead performance and/or a strange story.  (Although I’m guessing a bit here, as I haven’t seen Good Night, and Good Luck. or Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.)  Ultimately, it’s not like there was anything all that bad about The Monuments Men, just not enough that was good.  Like, I want to rip into it, but also, I don’t? B-