Trainspotting

Genre: comedy drama  

With: Ewan McGregor (Mark Renton), Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy), Robert Carlyle (Begbie), Ewen Bremner (Spud Murphy), Kelly Macdonald (Diane), Kevin McKidd (Tommy), Susan Vidler (Allison), Peter Mullan (Swanney)

Director: Danny Boyle

Release: 1995

Studio: Channel Four Films, Figment Films, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company

Rating: 16

MBiS score: 8.3/10

Getting High on Dope, Getting By on Hope

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Story-line: in contemporary Scotland, Renton and his misfit friends face a bleak future as they struggle with drugs, love interests and pressures to conform.

Pluses: excellent acting by Ewan McGregor (the likeable addict), Jonny Lee Miller (an untrustworthy pimp and dealer), Robert Carlyle (the dangerous one) and Ewen Bremner (a hapless, hopeless loser), hilarious dialogues and foul language, fast-paced action, editing and direction, John Hodge’s screenplay based on an Irvine Welsh novel and, of course, Renton’s encounter with the dirtiest toilet in Scotland.

Minuses: though it depicts several tragic events, the movie as a whole is no downer.

Comments: with TRAINSPOTTING, Danny Boyle has crafted a film as vibrant and entertaining as any in recent cinema. The movie’s ending will make you feel incredibly alive and very satisfied. As Renton eloquently puts it, ‟It's a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!” Enough said!

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