The Wild & Crazy Indie Smash Hit that Started My Love For Independent Film

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2005)

#1 BEST FILM OF 1996
Young filmmaker Danny Boyle's film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's incredible novel, about a band of social misfits that just so happen to be sleazy heroin junkies, is the movie that got me hooked on independent flicks. One late Friday night I was cruising through the movie channels on Satellite and I stumbled upon a channel called IFC (Independent Film Channel). On it there was this film 'Trainspotting'. I watched it and immediately fell in love with it. I never really saw anything quite like it, it was stylish, cool, depressing, dark and disturbing all at the same time. After this I got hooked on IFC channel, and if it wasn't for the smash U.K. hit 'Trainspotting', I might have never watched an independent film.
Following the novel surprisingly closely, 'Trainspotting' revolves around a band of friends. Most are heroin junkies, one is an alcoholic psycho and the other is actually a good guy. These friends play soccer together and hang out all the time. They are led by Mark Renton (played by Ewan McGregor - Star Wars, Moulin Rouge) the central character and narrator of this macabre yet intriguing tale. We watch him as he tries to get off heroin and how this effects his friends -- Spud (Ewen Bremner - Snatch., The Acid House) a silly, naive, never-hurt-a-fly kind of heroin addict who serves as the film's oaf; Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller - Dracula 2000, Hackers) a selfish, sneaky and manipulative heroin junkie obsessed with James Bond who Renton secretly despises; Tommy (Kevin McKidd - The Acid House) the only honest friend of Renton's who is drug and alcohol free; and Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle - The Full Monty, Riff Raff) a deranged, alcoholic violent madman with a mean temper and a large knife. The story follows Renton's struggle to get off drugs and start a life while interacting with his friends and eventually arranging a drug deal with them at the end to strike it rich.
'Trainspotting' is a nearly perfect picture with extraordinary acting, directing and writing. The performances are nothing short of first-rate in 'Trainspotting'. Ewan McGregor gives perhaps his finest and most unfairly ignored screen performances as our hero and struggling heroin junkie. He plays the role with such authenticity and passion for the craft of acting you'd never think he wasn't a heroin junkie in real life. Ewen Bremner is funny as the film's idiot, but Jonny Lee Miller surprisingly gives an outstanding performance as Renton's slippery so-called friend. Kevin McKidd is good as Tommy and Kelly MacDonald does a fine job with her acting debut as Renton's underage lay who becomes kind of like a mentor to him as the film progresses. One of the absolute finest performances in this movie is by Robert Carlyle, most known as a British acting coach. It's hard to explain why he's so wonderful, but I'll try. He plays the bad guy in a way that it makes you uncomfortable and scared watching him. That takes talent and it's not easy to do for any actor. Danny Boyle provides us with breathtaking camera work and has some Tarantino-ish qualities, that makes him one of the most talented filmmakers working in the independent film industry. There is a scene in which the main character, Renton, is going through withdrawal and he has a hallucination of a friend's deceased infant child crawls up on his bedroom wall and spins his head all the way around in a kind of Linda Blair Exorcist style. It's a freaky scene but it's also a carefully layered and admirable scene that proves Danny Boyle's directing talents to be most impressive. John Hodge (who writes most of Boyle's films) does a phenomenal job capturing the material from Welsh's groundbreaking and provocative novel that should have won him the Oscar in the 1997 Academy Award ceremony. The cinematography is consistently amazing but the film editing is a tad choppy. But, that's not really something to get bent out of shape about, because the rest of the film is always engrossing especially the magnificent and extensive soundtrack including music from Blur, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.
All in all, 'Trainspotting' is an astounding indie achievement from British filmmaker Danny Boyle who also did the highly successful indie romp 'Shallow Grave' starring Ewan McGregor and the major flop 'The Beach' starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Carlyle. If you've never seen 'Trainspotting' and have a very strong stomach and an urge to see something peculiar yet brilliant, be sure to rent it your next stop at the videostore. If you've seen it and liked it enough to purchase it, be sure to get the the 2-disc special edition DVD with some excellent extras including full-length audio commentary with some insightful information. 'Trainspotting' is the film that started my love with indie cinema. Be sure you don't miss it. Grade: A
MADE MY TOP 300 LIST AT #27