Bravo, Mr. McConaughey. It’s been some time, but it seems like you are back and ready to play in the big leagues again. One must wonder, was it Fool’s Gold that finally did you in? Or was it always Sahara?
Amongst the surprisingly solid buzz surrounding his upcoming The Lincoln Lawyer, not to mention his titular role in the William Friedkin/Tracy Letts comedy Killer Joe and his much-needed reunion with Richard Linklater (in another dark comedy, Bernie), 2011 is poised to be the charismatic actor’s return to form.
The man apparently doesn’t want 2012 to be any different, attaching himself to the long-gestating project The Dallas Buyer’s Club, with The Young Victoria director Jean Marc Vallee at the helm and Guillermo Ariaga (Children of Men) producing. For years the script has floated around the industry, attracting the best and the brightest, from directors Marc Forster to Craig Gillepsie and stars Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
Once at Universal, the film is now an independent affair, McConaughey admitting to the L.A. Times, “It’s not exactly the movie that studios are throwing money at these days.” These days is right. Too right.
The film concerns Ron Woodroof, a heterosexual Dallas resident who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, when the disease was climbing violently. Told he had only months to live, Woodroof took action. He smuggled then-illegal treatments into the country and distributed them to as many AIDS patients as possible. He lived for over six years past the initial diagnosis, prolonging the lives of many others before his death.
It sounds something like Philadelphia meets I Love You, Phillip Morris. And while we’re on the topic, let us all recognize that in 1993 Jonathan Demme’s masterful Philadelphia grossed over $200 million worldwide. An adult, R-rated drama about a gay man? No! Yes. yes indeed. These days, it took everything but an act of God to get Jim Carrey’s extremely funny and touching film into theaters, only for critics and viewers (those who had the capability of seeing it) that it was, wait for it, extremely funny and touching.
The fact that McConaughey is the star steamrolling this project only adds to the irony of this crumbling industry. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a passionate move from a talented performer clearly tired of the same old, same old.
Do you think McConaughey has the clout to get this film off the ground and into production?