Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" achieves an effect similar to one seen in Scorsese films like "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Goodfellas". Through playful banter and humorous, raucous moments between friends, it has the ability to distract viewers from the truly tragic, often despicable lives of its characters. It's a film which is likely loved by a heroin junkie just as much as by your average, clean-cut, seasoned movie fan. With the release of a long-awaited sequel this year, it's easy to recognize the "classic" status that this movie has achieved since 1996.
"Trainspotting" is, at it simplest, a film about drug addicts. The drug use in the film is prevalent and graphic, and it often leads its characters into turbulent situations. There's no doubt that the films funny moments can be genuinely uproarious, such as the "worst toilet in Scotland" sequence. However, when taken as a whole, the movie does nothing to glorify the use of heroin, or the lifestyle of the characters. The foremost of those characters is Mark Renton, who's feeble attempts to overcome is drug habits are consistently thwarted by his friends and his city. While the film displays a sort of ensemble of troubled characters, Renton provides most of the film's perspective and commentary regarding the Edinburgh drug scene. Ewan McGregor is effective in what is widely considered his signature role. Before he was Obi-Wan Kenobi, this was the role with which he was most closely associated with, and amongst many moviegoers, this is still seen as his crowning work. Renton is a clearly troubled character, but he often seems somehow slightly better held together than some of his mates do, and from the very beginning of the film, he warns his audience not to choose to live the way he does.
It's ultimately quite a dark life that we observe the film's characters living. For every brief moment of comedic levity, there is an impending scene of helplessness and tragedy. Observing the group of main characters, I wonder if they are truly friends, or just individuals with whom they feel forced to share their disastrous reality. The film's outlandish nature has turned its characters into cult favorites, particularly the United Kingdom, but truthfully there is a desperate sense to Renton and his friends that make "Trainspotting" an effectively anti-drug film. Thankfully, I have never suffered from any sort of addiction, but sequences like Renton's vividly chaotic withdrawal scene while locked in his bedroom are exactly what I imagine such an addiction to be like. There is no question that the film is honest, and it's that honesty which should clearly lead viewers to want to "choose life" over a drug fueled existence. In his final monologue, following a shameless betrayal of his so called "friends", Renton himself admits "I'm a bad person". While he is not past the point of redemption, the film makes it clear that Renton is no model character. This movie is one which leaves its audience unsure how to feel. It's an up and down experience; likely not dissimilar in that regard to a heroin habit. We laugh, we are disgusted and disturbed, and often totally drained while observing Renton's struggles. Its dark comedic elements weave through its occasionally depressing character study to produce an irresistible blend of the provocative and the purely entertaining.
RATING: 8/10
