Trainspotting

"Pure blistering brilliance"
(Awesome)

Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" is a blast of ice-cold water across a sweaty brow; it's a lively, vibrant and pulsatingly addictive movie, an experience not unlike a roller-coaster ride through some of the sickest, slimiest and heart-stoppingly shocking sub-levels of drug addiction.

Here is a movie that displays the physical and emotional appeal of heroin while also presenting a cautionary tale so brazen and harrowing that it could drive the most degenerate junkie into the closest rehab center. Trainspotting is brave and ballsy and frequently hilarious; it's dark, smart and uncompromising in a way that only the best films are. It's more than one of the best 'drug movies' ever made; it's arguably the finest film to come out of the UK since the days of A Clockwork Orange - and a movie that will most likely be adored in 50 years as much as it is today. Perhaps even moreso.

If you want to tell the ugly truth about an unpleasant topic, do it colorfully, unflinchingly and without apology. Director Danny Boyle understands this approach and Trainspotting is an absolute primer on how to make something as disturbing as heroin addiction into a hard-hearted film that enlightens as effortlessly as it entertains. Laden with monumentally memorable characters, a handful of truly outrageous moments, a half-dozen superlative acting performances and a soundtrack that easily ranks among the finest of the past several decades - Trainspotting is a film that deserves every ounce of praise it's earned, plus a whole lot more.

If a plot synopsis like "slice-of-life absurdist drama about a group of disaffected Scottish youths who waste their young lives, forever awaiting their next visit from Mr. Hypodermic" sounds like a whole lot of dreary after-school-special material, then you may be among the many who've yet to experience the bliss of Trainspotting. In which case, I'd ask that you close this window right now, find your car keys, and go find yourself of a copy of the new Special Edition DVD. Watch the movie and then come on back.

There, now don't you feel just a little more...alive? How insane is that movie? How could something be so heartbreakingly ugly, so toe-tappingly alive and so head-slappingly hilarious at the same time? One can only be grateful that there are other countries boasting such admirable filmmakers and producers, because there's no way that Trainspotting would have ever made it through the United States Movie Machine.

Based on the well-adored novel by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting is, on its surface, not about much more than a few heroin junkies and their struggles in Edinburgh, circa 1983 (or thereabouts). Our main character is Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), a clearly intelligent and open-minded young turk who has a nasty heroin habit. Along with pseudo-pals Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Renton take us on a brief sojourn into the world of low-end junkiedom of the most fascinating order.

Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge never once apologize or make excuses for these characters. Nor do they cast aspersions or paint the drug addicts with broad or simplistic brush strokes. Their world is presented as equal parts blissful, desperate, inviting and horrific. The viewer is left to decide for themselves how they feel about the boys and their actions. And it's this lack of judgment that enables Trainspotting to soar; huge and disgusting laughs are followed by scenes of stunning tragedy or arcane beauty. Small victories are punctuated by painful backslides; moments of giddy glee are interrupted by unpredictable upsets.

Trainspotting is as difficult to categorize as it is to dismiss. It works as a deviously dark comedy, a colorful cautionary tale, a brilliant trek into a world generally unseen, a dank and dangerous horror show, a crackingly concise social commentary, and a wonderfully off-kilter multi-character study. It's got the heart of a junkie, the brain of a survivor and the soul of a disco dancer. This movie packs more wit, danger, insight and pure entertainment value into its 90 minutes than most movies could given 4 hours. It's bright, tight, compact, and absolutely electric with life. I gave it 5 stars eight years ago, and the movie just gets better with each new visit.

Clearly, I love this movie. The new goodies on Miramax's "Collector's Series" edition are just icing on one of my favorite cakes. Fans will be thrilled to find the following: an audio commentary consisting of interview segments with Ewan McGregor, Danny Boyle, John Hodge, and producer Andrew McDonald; nine deleted scenes with optional Boyle/McDonald commentary; several Behind-the-Scenes featurettes both archival and retrospective; extensive interviews with Welsh, Hodge, Boyle and McDonald; footage from the film's 1996 Cannes premiere; stills galleries and trailers.

Few DVDs are what I'd call worth their weight in heroin, but this new "Trainspotting" 2-discer now holds a very special place in my collection...right next to "Requiem for a Dream".