Entertaining characters in a story of the dangers of loyalty.

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2016)

More dangerous than the addiction to drugs in this film is the addiction to a lifestyle. We can see that breaking a heroin habit, while not a very easy task, is one that Renton can do with relative ease. However, he keeps going back to it for the same reason: his friends. Now I don't like to believe that you are defined by or even overly affected by the company you keep, but it certainly holds true here. While Renton sees all sorts of reasons to leave his friends he just can't seem to do it. Even when he tries moving to England, Begbie and Sick Boy are right there. He also is not the only one who has become subjected to this unhealthy loyalty, as Tommy says after relating the whole billiards episode with Begbie "But he's a mate. So what are you gonna do?".
Each of the characters is very distinctive and entertaining in their own way, though none of Renton's friends generate sympathy like he does. I found Spud the most entertaining to watch with his baffled expressions. Begbie might have been more entertaining if I could hear past his accent. The friends all stick together despite their differences, which sounds very touching on the surface, but it's actually quite sad. This is why I felt happy for Renton at the end when he steals the money from them. I don't know whether it was right, I mean stealing is not generally accepted as the right thing to do. But I think it was absolutely necessary for Renton to end his habit. He doesn't need or even really want the money, but the only way he could get away from his self-destructive lifestyle was by way of a betrayal.
The plot mostly consists of Renton going through cycles of trying to get clean, and getting sucked back into the world of drugs again by various means, sometimes his own and sometimes circumstantial. Throughout we get development of the mad world that he lives in and the love-hate relationship that comes with his addiction. Some of the drug scenes can be disturbing, but I was expecting much worse. I was glad that all of the three hallucinations were unpleasant experiences for Renton because that made them less disturbing. As Renton says, he and the other addicts hate the side-effects, but it's not enough to deter them from taking more.
The pacing keeps you interested as the scenes move fast, which might make up for the slower-moving plot. The cinematography and editing are also nice additions that improve the overall atmosphere. I thought that Danny Boyle's directing was more worthy of an Oscar nomination than the script was. Not that the script was bad, but it just wasn't amazing. The actors seem to do a nice job, but don't give very noteworthy performances.
I will admit that I was a bit disappointed with the overall story. It was good, but just not what I was expecting. Primarily, it's entertaining, but the ending is somewhat inspiring. Renton's bookending monologues can be life-defining if you want them to be. There seems to be a slight caution in how much one can "choose life" as Renton outlines some of the more excessive points of stereotypical middle-class life. If you don't like drug culture and hallucinations and such, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I hate that sort of thing and wasn't really disturbed by anything shown here. If you have an addiction that you're trying to break, this might help, but I doubt it will be miraculous. If you're just looking for something good to watch, this ought to satisfy. Overall Rating: 7.7/10.