Review of Trainspotting (1996) by Melvin W — 30 Jul 2012

Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: People think it's all about misery and desperation and death and all that shit which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not fucking stupid. At least, we're not that fucking stupid. .

"Never let your friends tie you to the tracks.".

Definitely a top tier drug film. It's like a mixture of Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy and Aronofsky's Requiem For a Dream. It's a movie that doesn't glorify or totally condemn drug use. It's where most people are on the issue in-between. That isn't to say that there isn't consequences for the drug use seen in this film. Danny Boyle brings out the consequences just as much as he brings out the thrills. But to an addict, the consequences are outweighed by just how great the feeling is. Like Rent Boy says, "They're not that stupid." People sometimes forget that there's a reason people got hooked on a substance, they liked it. That's what this movie reminds us of.

Trainspotting presents the story of some young men in Scotland who are deep into heroin. Our main character, Rent Boy is played by Ewan McGregor in another stunning role. He's a heroin addict that pretty much sums up the experience of being hooked on heroin just by looking at him. When he's high, he's fine. When he isn't high, he has that look where he just doesn't know what to do. He's got to get high. He's got to score, at whatever cost. Then he scores and he says the patented drug addict verbiage, "This is the last hit." It's always the last hit, then the next time is the last hit. Then I'll really quit. Then I quit for awhile, but now I just need a taste. A taste for old times sake. Then I'm done forever. Do you believe me?

McGregor plays this role perfectly and I can tell that because at the end, I honestly want to believe him. He says he's going to change, he's going to stay clean. He isn't going to touch it anymore. He's going to be like you and me. He's that friend you have that says the same thing to you in real life. You look at him and he looks like he's telling the truth. He looks like he really wants to be done. You want to believe him so badly. The only problem is this is the fifteenth time he's said it. Has it happened yet. Nope. You know deep down, this isn't the last time. He's just saying what he has to say.

That's what I love about Trainspotting, just how honest a portrayal of the drug scene it is. People who says it glorifies the drug scene are stupid, but people who says it's an anti-drug film are missing the point too. This isn't about the rights and wrongs of drug usage. This is about the addict. He shouldn't have to be someone that tells us heroin is bad, and guess what he doesn't. Funny that, a movie about a drug addict not telling us straight out that drugs are terrible. Of course it isn't, the person with whom is narrating our story loves them. .

Easily one of the best drug related films I have ever seen. It's devastating, but funny. Sad, but exciting. It's a film that defies all logic because a heroin addicts life defies all logic. It's a movie with style and fun scenes because when you get high, you have fun. That's why they do it. Well, until the point where they just have to do it to be normal. .