Financial Times February 6, 2014 It would be a TV problem-of-the-week movie without McConaughey’s skill in combining intelligence with pizzazz.
Rolling Stone October 31, 2013 [Matthew McConaughey’s] explosive, unerring portrayal defines what makes an actor great, blazing commitment to a character and the range...
Us Weekly November 2, 2013 This true story is no melodramatic probe into an ailing cowboy’s soul. Not once does McConaughey look to the sky and ask why him or cry himse...
Matthew McConaughey’s quest to establish himself as one of the finest, most committed actors of his generation continues apace in Jean-Marc V...
Autostraddle June 14, 2021 The film fails to break the pattern of transphobic narratives in cinema, perhaps because it doesn’t understand that trans people are not the...
Slant Magazine October 25, 2013 Conventional but never sanctimonious, it balances out its familiar recovery angle with a healthy measure of sardonic wit.
The real halo here belongs to McConaughey. He does justice to Ron’s story and to his own quicksilver talent.
If the camera occasionally suffers a fashionable case of the jitters, the movie transcends its agitated verismo to impart dramatic and behavio...
Austin Chronicle November 15, 2013 Dallas Buyers Club is an indelible story about one man’s unwillingness to go gently into that good night, and the personal growth he experien...
Grantland September 13, 2013 The movie adds vulgar emotional sweetener. It’s Erin Cockovich.
A calculated prestige picture that never bothers to ask broader questions about the AIDS epidemic.
This is McConaughey’s movie, and definitive proof that he is back to being the actor we always thought he was, or could be, since "Dazed and...
Despite the cadaverous appearance of its lead actor, Dallas Buyers Club wants to be pretty, too, presenting a tidy, uplifting history of the y...
metro.co.uk February 7, 2014 Bravely, it offers neither a 'feel-good' nor 'feel-bad' payoff. However, the story’s momentum fizzles out, its characters often feeling...
The Spectator February 6, 2014 It is fantastic and Matthew McConaughey gives the performance of his career. In fact, it may be the best performance of anyone’s career. It&r...
Newsday November 14, 2013 A solid biopic is made transcendent by McConaughey, who shed nearly 50 pounds and deserves to gain an Oscar for his ferocious, funny perf...
Arizona Republic November 7, 2013 Vallee, working from a script by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, infuses the film with some humor – Woodroof’s posing as a priest...
Independent February 14, 2014 What makes the film so special is its sense of defiance and its scabrous humour.
A powerfully moving film, and McConaughey’s extraordinary physical transformation is much more than a stunt.
Movie Mom November 8, 2013 McConaughey, pared down to nothing but grit and sinew, gives a performance of profound sensitivity and scope.
"Dallas Buyers Club" takes audiences back to the worst of the AIDS crisis, where the disease was a death sentence, and the public’s terr...
filmcomment.com November 12, 2013 Perhaps the cinematic equivalent of tough love, Dallas Buyers Club may be more feel-bad than it would have been in the hands of the more clich-incl...
The Guardian February 6, 2014 Like a Gary Cooper in the era of sexual crisis, McConaughey hits a very sure stride.
Toronto Star October 31, 2013 Script and pacing problems aside, Dallas Buyers Club remains an awards-worthy showcase of McConaughey’s and Leto’s ferocious talents, m...
The Guardian September 9, 2013 [McConaughey] delivers a twitchy, hostile performance on par with anything he’s done since he escaped the rom com cul-de-sac.
Just about everything is right with Dallas Buyers Club, beginning with Matthew McConaughey’s literally transformative portrayal.
The screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack doesn’t yield to pat pronouncements or solutions, refusing to turn Woodroof into a hug...
New Yorker October 31, 2013 It’s McConaughey’s spiritual transformation that is most remarkable. His gaze is at once desperate and challenging.
Dallas Buyers Club is just about a selfish boor who arguably gets a pass in terms of posterity, because while looking out for No. 1, he paved...
TheWrap September 9, 2013 McConaughey is the only reason to see Dallas Buyers Club, but he’s enough of a reason to see Dallas Buyers Club.
The Guardian February 9, 2014 Terrific performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto elevate this socio-medical drama out of the realms of the ordinary into something quiet...
Times (UK) January 2, 2018 Sometimes a character punches through the screen, beyond the film containing him. Matthew McConaughey’s performance as an HIV-positive c...
AV Club September 13, 2013 There’s still something undeniably moving about the film’s trajectory, which allows McConaughey to blossom into an empathetic figure-on...
Independent February 14, 2014 McConaughey is so charismatic that, as a simple one-man-against-the-odds drama, Dallas Buyers Club is consistently engaging; almost, despite W...
online.wsj.com October 31, 2013 Matthew McConaughey continues to amaze.
Austin Chronicle November 15, 2013 Dallas Buyers Club is an indelible story about one man’s unwillingness to go gently into that good night, and the personal growth he experien...
Paste Magazine October 31, 2013 Despite some feel-good conventionality, Dallas Buyers Club succeeds thanks to its pragmatic view of its rather pragmatic hero.
Los Angeles Times October 31, 2013 [McConaughey and Leto] elevate the movie beyond ordinary biography or overplayed tragedy, and give Oscar-worthy performances in the process.
Film.com September 7, 2013 The fireworks caused by pitting never-say-die Texas bravado against heartlessness is a powerful mix, and the film manages to be an inspiring t...
Despite its downbeat context (a plague at its height), the movie is a crowd-pleaser-graceful and funny enough to distract you from its gaps an...
Observer October 30, 2013 Dallas Buyers Club represents the best of what independent film on a limited budget can achieve-powerful, enlightening and not to be missed.
Irish Times February 8, 2014 For all its occasional compromises, Dallas Buyers Club shakes off potential disease-of-the-month TV movie status and succeeds at an uncomplicated e...
New Statesman February 12, 2014 McConaughey and Leto drill down to the roots of their characters. It calls to mind that advice for actors playing drunk: you do it like you’r...
RogerEbert.com November 1, 2013 "Dallas Buyers Club" takes a more elliptical, near-poetic approach to the lives it portrays than the viewer might expect from this kind of movie.
This is a movie that traffics in deep hindbrain emotions: fear and rage and lust and, above all, the pure animal drive to go on living.
The performances are spectacular, McConaughey’s especially, so alive in approaching death.
Chicago Reader November 7, 2013 However creaky this might be as drama, it’s a fascinating look at an underground economy and the politics of medicine.
Variety September 9, 2013 Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto give terrific performances in this riveting and surprisingly relatable true story.
New York Times October 31, 2013 Matthew McConaughey brings a jolt of unpredictable energy to "Dallas Buyers Club," an affecting if conventional real-life story of medical act...
A trio of terrific performers imbues a riveting AIDS drama with heart and mind as well as pertinence.
USA Today October 31, 2013 McConaughey proves he has evolved from a handsome lightweight to one of the most talented, risk-taking actors in Hollywood.
The Dissolve October 30, 2013 It’s a formulaic story that takes full advantage of these broad, familiar formulas to win viewers, but finds enough unique detail to ret...
Reel Talk Online September 6, 2017 Though Jean-Marc Valle’s direction is sometimes indistinct, it does allow the actors to come off more inhibited in their performances and eac...
New York Post October 31, 2013 It’s a remarkable story, vividly and urgently told by French-Canadian director Valle from a pointed, schmaltz-free script by Craig...
google.com September 14, 2013 Despite its good intentions and moxie-filled performances, Dallas Buyers Club is ultimately marred by its impulse to compromise its freewheeling hu...
Detroit News December 31, 2013 The AIDS epidemic was not a happy-ending story. But it was certainly a test of the human spirit. Ron Woodroof passed that test.
Hollywood Reporter September 9, 2013 This is a full-bodied characterization that will take McConaughey’s already impressive career regeneration several steps further.
indieWire September 13, 2013 For the majority of the time, it wrestles with the heavy material like the cowboys and cattle at the rodeo that frames its events, and McConaughey...
If there was any doubt that McConaughey is more than just a tawny-chested rom-com stud, there should be no question anymore.
ReelViews November 7, 2013 In many ways, the film is all about Matthew McConaughey, and Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee is wise enough to train his focus on the actor.
Empire Magazine February 3, 2014 Get this – Matthew McConaughey is currently the most exciting acting talent at work in movies. Next up, the simple business of a Christop...
Salon.com October 31, 2013 Despite its clichd elements, "Dallas Buyers Club" is a fierce celebration of the unpredictable power that belongs to the outcast, the despised...
Shockya.com November 4, 2013 It’s loaded with quality work, but it’s Matthew McConaughey’s performance that elevates those elements to make the film an except...
The commitment McConaughey brings is something to behold … Woodroof’s mix of Texas blowhard and eccentric bozo is clearly his strong suit.
