Rating of
3.5/4
"Trainspotting" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/02/12
A group of Scottish junkies and misfits try to make their way in 90s Britain. Trainspotting is a true zeitgeist movie, and sums up perfectly the time in which it was made. Irvine Walsh's story is well observed and full of amusing tirades against 90s society with drug references that are non-judgmental, trying to show both the cheese in the mousetrap of addiction as well as its terrible consequences. Despite the grim subject matter, there are a lot of laughs to be had cleverly counterpointed with the horror and degradation that a drug habit can cause. This is the film that rightly catapulted Ewan McGregor to international stardom with Robert Carlyle deserving an honourable mention as the hateful and clearly psychotic Begby. The plot is slightly flimsy but the film has a lot of energy and although it has inevitably dated as it is such a product of its time, it's still a bit of a classic of British cinema.
