Review of Trainspotting (1996) by Damjan R — 18 Sep 2012

Come to think of it, considering how near-psychedelically frantic and poppy his style is, Danny Boyle actually does seem fitting as director, if of course he picks the right tone to go with that style. Boyle's done dramas and thrillers, as well as relatively fluffy pieces, so this film's style can either portray heroin addiction as the harsh, terrifyingly overly trippy pain that it gets to be, or a whole lot of fun. Well, parents who still probably shouldn't be letting their children watch a film like this, rest easy, because the message of the story is that drugs are bad... or at least I think that it is. The fact that this is a black "comedy", alone, obscures the line between fun and bad when it comes to drugs, and Danny Boyle's lively style doesn't help. Oh yeah, I know when I think of fun, I think of screaming and flailing around as a baby crawls on the ceiling and spinning its head around to stare at me. Seriously though, heroin may be bad, but it at least makes for a pretty good film. Still, as good as this film is, like heroin itself, with all of the highs, you better believe that some lows kick in after a while.

As strange as it sounds, a problem with this film is that it is perhaps too narrated, for although Ewan McGregor's narration takes its share of extended breaks, it comes into play too often, particularly during certain crucial expository scenes that, when overemphatically unraveled via narration, feel too telegraphed for you to fully lock in on their effectiveness, in that McGregor's vocal presence distances you from this world and leaves the story to simply feel like a story in been-there-done-that past-tense. It doesn't help that, after a while, the narration not only gets to be detrimental to the effectiveness of the film's immersiveness value, but repetitious, which leaves the film to feel repetition and lose its steam of consequence further. Conflict takes further damage from something that this film has just as much, if not more of than the narration, and should have very little of to begin with: filler, as the film is filled filler (That's a lot of "fil", Phil), and plot suffers considerably because of it, to the point of somtimes being utterly obscured. Don't get me wrong, the filler is fun, or at least until things get gratuitously over-the-top when it comes to absurd gross-out (Oh lord, the "sheets" scene with Ewen Bremner that you'll recognize when you see is ridiculous), but it slows down the film's momentum with its being too prevalent and too superfluous, much like the narration that taints the film with a feeling or repetition and taints the emotional resonance with distancing overemphasis. Still, when you get down to it, the problem with the film is that it simply doesn't have as much bite as it should, not just because of there being too much of the narration that taints subtlety or too much of the filler that, but simply because there's not enough weight behind the structuring of a story that should have weight. Clocking in at a mere just over an hour-and-a-half, the film is too brief to be as repetitious, filler-filled (Phil) and with limited bite as it is, thus making for what could have easily become an underwhelming Boyle filler, regardless of what everyone and their grandmother in the UK say. However, at the end of the day, this fact that this film transcends its missteps and overall underwhelmingness makes the final product all the more impressive, for although this film isn't without its faults, more than enough compensation is delivered, and thoroughly enough to keep you hooked, particularly if you're itching for style.

For his second effort, Danny Boyle digs cinematographer Brian Tufano back up from "Shallow Grave", and Tufano delivers yet again in bringing Boyle's stylistic tastes to life through handsomely detailed definition and unique, rather fittingly trippy camera shots in the fine photography, while "Shallow Grave" editor Masahiro Hirakubo returns to once again deliver on sharply snappy and stylishly slick editing tricks to give the film a fitting sense of frenetic livliness. As for the soundtrack, it's hit-or-miss, yet when it hits, it hits pretty hard, and when it misses, it does little damage, because, whether when he's making the annoyingly overly poppy tunes lively in the context of the film or playing up substance as much as style when working with the already good-by-their-own-right songs on the tracklist, Danny Boyle manipulates the soundtrack as sharply as always to intenisty the livliness in the film, which still doesn't even need as soundtrack to keep lively. Yet another one of Boyle's buddies from the "Shallow Grave" days, John Hodge, delivers a flawed screenplay, - tainted by the aforementioned overusage of narration, filler, as well as points of slapdashed exposition that I didn't touch upon earlier - yet one that hits more than misses, particularly when it comes to the fluffier moments, for although the filler gets to be too much, whether it's necessary or not, the livlier moments of the film go riddled with colorful dialogue and set pieces that, when brought to life by Danny Boyle's lively atmosphere, - complimented by the aforementioned striking style - secures entertainment value as ceaseless. Still, with all of these fun and games, this remains a realist analysis on the horrors of heroin, among other things, and when push comes to shove, Danny Boyle delivers about as effectively as he can, as the dramatic impact does go hurt by the aforementioned hurried moments in exposition and overbearing narration, yet still follows through, as Boyle is such a strong storyteller, and repairs any potential tonal unevenness while cutting through as much of the impact dilution as he can in order to establish intrigue, broken up by occasions of genuine effectiveness. When things get serious at about the halfway point or so, say, around the "finding baby Dawn" scene that you'll also recognize when you see, while the dramatic impact finds more scripted counterattackers than ever, Boyle fights on with his inspired storytelling and crafts a generally impacting film that, with its briefness and flaws, could have fallen as underwhelming, yet ultimately transcends to genuinely good, thus providing further evidence of Boyle's becoming the excellent storyteller that he is today. Boyle particularly carries this film to the state of being ultimately rewarding, yet wouldn't have done as good of a job as he did without the help of his performers, almost all of whom are charismatic, with some standing out as impassioned, especially leading man and "Shallow Grave" returner Ewan McGregor, who is certainly charming as all get-out, seeing as how he's Ewan McGregor and all, and primarily isn't asked to do too much outside of being charming, yet when material does rise, he delivers with compelling layers and emotion that defines the Mark "Rent Boy" Renton character as a compelling lead and, in 1996, gave us our first especially flavorful taste of the acting skill and lead presence that McGregor is known for. Now, the film doesn't quite kick all that terribly much, and certainly not to where I can see why people would place it up there as one of the best British films of its time, yet make no mistake, the film is rewarding, taking on many small-sounding yet surprisingly damaging missteps and coming out the other end strikingly stylish, sometimes impacting and, if nothing esle, thoroughly entertaining.

To come down off this high-I mean, review, the film's overused and somewhat overbearing narration concepts get to be repetitious and distance you from this world, thus tainting consistent intrigue, which goes tainted further by far too much plot-obscuring filler and, of course, the film's simply not having as much bite as it should, which leaves the final product to run the risk of collapsing into underwhelmingness, only to find itself partially saved by the striking style - complemented by Brian Tufano's photography and Masahiro Hirakubo's editing - and generally sharp - or at least sharply manipulated - soundtrack, which compliments the thorough entertainment value brought to life by John Hodge's lively writing and Danny Boyle's just as lively direction, which also graces many of the dramatic moments - a touch diluted though, their impact may be - with genuine effective, made all the stronger by the strong performances - particularly that of Ewan McGregor - that help in making "Trainspotting" an often colorful, sometimes impacting and consistently enjoyable portrait on the "highs" (Get it?) and lows of heroin addiction.

3/5 - Good.