It seemed that right as Matthew McConaughey was named this year’s Best Actor Oscar winner, the internet was full of posts protesting that Leonardo DiCaprio should have won. My question for these people is – did you even see Dallas Buyers Club? Don’t get me wrong, I love Leonardo as much (maybe even more) than the next girl, but hands down Matthew McConaughey had him beat–this year. Yes I can go on and on about how hard McConaughey prepared for the role, the vast difference in budgets between Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street, how much Dallas Buyers Club had been denied before finally being made, the list goes on, but that is all obvious. Looking at the performances themselves, there is no doubt that McConaughey wins.
When was the last time you talked about dying in the first person? For many of us, it is just not something that we do. However, Matthew McConaughey had to get inside the mind of someone who had death as a complete reality. Matthew McConaughey’s character has been given thirty days to live after being diagnosed with AIDs. If you have seen the movie, you will probably agree with me that Matthew McConaughey and his character, Ron Woodroof, were interchangeable and they were both dying of AIDS. There was no telling where Matthew McConaughey ended and Ron Wodroof started. Matthew McConaughey put on the best performance of the year, especially when taking into consideration the disconnect McConaughey faces simply because McConaughey has never had AIDs. How do you portray with such conviction and belief what you will most likely never know? Ask Matthew McConaughey- he did it spot on.
While portraying a dying character has been done before (see Tom Hanks and Philadelphia), it was not done by Leonardo this year. That is just the facts. Leonardo, while also equally as convincing in his role, did not have to get inside the head of a dying man. Instead, his role called for him to embrace the world of a greedy, drug-addict. While Leonardo does give a very convincing performance, the depth and soul-searching that McConaughey portrays on film, along with the struggle of the man he portrays on the screen, is breathtakingly better than Leo’s performance. Don’t get me wrong- I loved every minute of DiCaprio’s performance, but he had amazing outlets, such as Jordan Belfort himself, to help understand the role and character he was performing. I believe strongly that Leonardo Dicaprio deserves to win an Academy Award, but this year it just wasn’t meant to be.
Photo Credits:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/449351/Leonardo-DiCaprio-and-Matth…
http://www.goldderby.com/news/5239/matthew-mcconaughey-dallas-buyers-clu…
http://screenrant.com/leonardo-dicaprio-defends-wolf-wall-street-controv…