Trainspotting Movie Review

Released: 23rd February 1996

Length: 93 Minutes

Certificate: 18

Director: Danny Boyle

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewn Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd and Kelly McDonald

Cult films through the 1990s had a wide recognition, with several filmmakers making their debuts through the decade. Having moved to more serious affairs, Danny Boyle’s first forays into filmmaking were contained and less self-serious. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting is a wild and raunchy ride through drug-induced squalor.

Trainspotting follows five heroin addicts; Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), Spud Murphy (Ewen Bremner), Simon “Sickboy” Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy Mackenzie (Kevin McKidd) and Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle) as they chart their way through poverty-ridden Edinburgh, getting into all kinds of trouble with drugs in the process. Through the ups and many downs, we follow the characters and their struggles and from the moment it starts, Trainspotting grips you; the witty narration from Ewan McGregor and the irresistible soundtrack forming an intoxicating blend. From there the film itself is paced to resemble the feeling of a drug; the characters are lifted to a high, only to be knocked down in some extremely harrowing ways. Trainspotting succeeds at mixing comedic moments with the disturbing results of drug dependency and addiction. The depraved nature of the characters drives them to commit felonies and the cycle spins back and forth throughout the film, creating an unpredictability as to what the characters will get up to next. It never eases up for the entirety of its runtime, always rushing forward and delivering a vigorous helping of personality.

The characters of Trainspotting are a considerable distance from your usual film protagonists. None of the lads are especially likeable through most of the film, but their memorable personalities make up for it, playing off each other very well. Renton’s constant narrations alongside his on and off relationship with heroin is the focus throughout the film and his darker moments showcase one of Ewan McGregor’s most vigorous, unrestrained performances. Jonny Lee Miller effortlessly captures Sickboy’s swaggering, James Bond-referencing moves while Spud and Tommy are well-mannered and humoured in their own ways. But it’s Robert Carlyle who is arguably the best actor on show here, portraying the psychopathic Begbie with a vicious, unrelenting anger that creates some of the film’s most over-the-top moments. Much of the film’s charm comes through its writing; balancing between Scottish slang, all-out profanity and more grounded moments to deliver a snarky mood throughout. The side characters are also very well-portrayed, most notably the debuting Kelly McDonald as Diane, whose sly mannerisms challenge Renton across much of the film’s runtime. Ironically enough, Trainspotting manages to create a magnetic quality through its characterisation, one where you’ll want to see what happens to the characters, despite them being endlessly tied down by depression and drug use.

Danny Boyle’s direction for Trainspotting showcases his style at its most wild and unhinged.  The nastier moments involving heroin give way to some great practical effects and set work. We’re given a widely-varied view of these environments as the camera shifts around from close, medium and long shots and back again. Combined with the grotty, washed out colour scheme, a sinister depiction of the character’s lifestyle is depicted. The soundtrack features a list of classic British and Scottish tracks from the eighties and nineties with each one carefully chosen to fit the mood. The editing trickery at play, especially the use of montages is a rare anomaly in British cinema; music is mixed together with grainy footage and rapid cuts to deliver some hilarious results. The use of Atomic by Sleeper, mixed with football goals is a particularly crude highlight alongside an upbeat track for the film’s transition to London in its third act. Just as the plot is paced like the effects of drugs, the presentation also works to convey a rip-roaring style that embeds the film in that classic nineties indie scene.

Even twenty years later, Trainspotting remains a standout production on the part of everyone involved. None of its elements ever conflict; they work together so seamlessly, taking a grim subject matter and energizing it to the max. The result is one of the most wickedly entertaining and well concocted British films around.

Rating: 5/5 Stars (Exceptional)