Wild

It's a rarity nowadays to find a good film with a female lead. It's even more hard to find one that doesn't revolve around a romantic plot. Fortunately every year, there are such films released.

Jean-Marc Vallee's Wild is one such film. Admittedly, the whole "woman discovering who she is" storyline isn't exactly original but Vallee does his best with the all-too-familiar storyline. (Is it too much to ask for a female-led film that doesn't involve self-discovery?)

Even though the film was directed and written by men, Wild is surprisingly sympathetic. Flashbacks show Cheryl as very sexually active (she gets pregnant at one point though we don't see the outcome of it) and a drug user. Her actions aren't condemned by wither Vallee or Nick Hornby though they are condoned a bit. (Not by a lot but they are.)

At the center of Wild is Reese Witherspoon, an actress who doesn't always get the credit she deserves. (Election and Walk the Line are two obvious but prime examples.) Here, she's in a role that's stripped of glamour, one of rawness and vulnerability. It's something not commonly seen amongst most female performances but Witherspoon does a great job with the role.

Wild is very well done thanks to the work from Vallee, Hornby and Witherspoon. Though the film could have used a feminine touch, it still maintains a solid disposition. Quite frankly, we could do with more films like this. You know, with a good female lead.

My Rating: ****1/2

Dallas Buyers Club

When we first see Matthew McConaughey (and, to an extent, Jared Leto later on) in Jean-Marc Vallee's Dallas Buyers Club, it comes as a shock to see what his condition is. This isn't a measly ten or fifteen pounds lost. I'm talking Christian Bale in The Machinist kind of material.

And this is before Ron Woodruff (McConaughey) finds out he has AIDS. Bear in mind this film is set during the 1980s, the height of the AIDS epidemic (and not long after Rock Hudson was diagnosed). Suffice to say that Ron (who in his first scene is having sex with two women) doesn't take his own diagnosis very well.

What makes Dallas Buyers Club so captivating is how McConaughey plays Ron. Ron is depicted initially as a man who drinks like a fish, abuses various drugs (even after his diagnosis), willing to fuck anyone with breasts, and isn't afraid to speak his mind. (Fortunately he wises up.) And yet McConaughey has us feel sorry for Ron as we watch the disease eat away at him. It's an absolutely transfixing performance from him.

Likewise with the work from Leto and Jennifer Garner. Leto is nearly unrecognizable in his role, both physically and emotionally. (Many of his later scenes are absolutely heartbreaking.) Meanwhile, Garner shows her depths as an actress, proving she's more than just the wife of an Oscar-winning director. (She also has the most perfectly timed F-strike I've heard in a long time.)

Dallas Buyers Club is, quite simply put, a brilliant film. Everything about it just flows wonderfully: the pacing, the performances, the music, everything. This is a film that won't be forgotten for a long time.

My Rating: *****