Edgy, realistic, in a word, Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2005)

You can often judge a movie by the degree of extremes when it comes to people's responses. And judging by the way people either love or hate this movie -- nothing in between -- this is a brilliant one.
When this movie first came out in the 1990's it played a major role in shaping the cultural landscape that was to follow. It's right up there with Pulp Fiction and Nirvana's Smells like Teen Spirit. It was that good.
The plot follows a group of ne'er-do-wells who make it their primary goal in life to get high on heroine. They sacrifice jobs, relationships, family. Some even die. The movie doesn't make any bones about portraying the life of a junkie in the hardest, grittiest way possible. It doesn't sugarcoat it or whitewash the experience. Basically, the movie gives each and every inch of the heroine user's experience its due, from the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows, from the the cravings, the mania, and high jinx, and along the way a compelling portrait of the types of personalities who frequent the bars, bathrooms and slums where heroine users shoot up, to the fear and depression and despair that come from getting off the stuff or trying to score and coming up short. In this way the movie is totally compelling and I highly recommend it. Beyond all this is a funny cast of characters. I'd say it has everything, and makes a typical story arc out of all of the important events in a junkie's life. The cinematography and editing all flow in seamlessly. Close-ups and quick cuts give a visceral sense of running from the police (Ewan McGregor almost gets run over by a car in the process, and rather than lament the fact, he stops and laughs at the car as one more turn on the roller coaster), and the pacing of the movie slows to a crawl when Ewan McGregor goes dry.
Too many times ensemble casts are wasted on movies that pretend to high drama in the ordinary lives of ordinary people, but end up coming off as ordinary. Here's an ensemble cast in a movie that is not afraid to put them in extraordinary situations caused by something very ordinary, and ultimately hellish. A great ride!