"Trainspotting" Review

Ewan McGregor stars as Mark 'Rent Boy' Renton, a youthful Edinburgh heroin addict who is on a downward spiral of drugs and crime. He frequently wants to quit, and tries to do so from time to time, but always seems to succumb to just one more hit in order to cope with what is left with his life. With his friends, he is trapped in a seedy urban underworld in spite of the efforts of his family to get him clean, even against his will. Underneath it all, however, Mark is still seeking to make more of his life, and finds himself facing a choice – staying with his friends in his familiar environment or making a complete break and starting again drug free.

Based on the 1993 Irvine Welsh novel of the same name, 'Trainspotting' is a gritty, realistic look at the world of the urban drug addict. Although the subject matter could be off-putting, in this film it is handled with surprising sensitivity, neither glamorising drug use nor condemning it. Instead of being a film about drugs, it is really about the characters, all of which are fully developed and extremely well played by an outstanding cast.

Michael x