Trainspotting (1996) - "Living For The Boyle" Series

Welcome to the LIVING FOR THE BOYLE review series!  Daniel Francis Boyle originally hailed from Manchester, England and his filmmaking career took off thirty years ago in 1995 with the release of acclaimed cult thriller Shallow Grave.  And ever since then, Danny Boyle (as he’s officially known) has carved out a uniquely successful career not only achieving box office success several times but also winning a few Oscars along the way.  During this time period, he has also become one of MY personal favorite directors, having helmed excellent ORIGINAL stories spanning several genres including children’s fantasy, science fiction, crime drama, horror, and biopic.  Over the next few months, I will be reviewing some of my favorite entries from his filmography in the lead-up to the long-awaited sequel to one of his more successful films….28 Years Later which will be released in the U.S. on June 20!

Twenty-nine years ago, this raw, high-energy adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel about a group of young men in Edinburgh (Scotland) scoring heroin took the world by storm.  Of course, it was about more than just the drugs....it was a frenetic crime comedy/drama not only exploring addiction but youth.  It also featured a top-flight cast of up-and-coming UK actors along with an iconic soundtrack!  Starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd, and Kelly McDonald, it's time to find out about whether to....Choose Life.   

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

“Living for the Boyle” Series:

Welcome to the Living for the BOYLE series.  Daniel Francis Boyle originally hailed from Manchester, England and his filmmaking career took off thirty years ago in 1995 with the release of acclaimed cult thriller Shallow Grave.  And ever since then, Danny Boyle (as he’s officially known) has carved out a uniquely successful career not only achieving box office success several times but also winning a few Oscars along the way.  During this time period, he has also become one of MY personal favorite directors, having helmed excellent ORIGINAL stories spanning several genres including children’s fantasy, science fiction, crime drama, horror, and biopic.  Over the next few months, I will be reviewing some of my favorite entries from his filmography in the lead-up to the long-awaited sequel to one of his more successful films….28 Years Later which will be released in the U.S. on June 20!  (Music playing over)

TRAINSPOTTING – 1996 Directed by Danny Boyle

Starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullan, James Cosmo, Eileen Nicholas, Susan Vidler, Pauline Lynch, Shirley Henderson, and Kelly MacDonald

Genre: Drug Comedy/Drama (Audio clip)

Considering that this was only his second movie, it's all the more impressive how Danny Boyle (with writer John Hodge) gave us a full-on portrayal of heroin addiction which guides you through both the highs and the EXTREME lows of it while still leaving you feeling gratified 90 minutes later....thanks in no small part of course to the choice of music, which I’ll get to in just a bit.  Irvine Welsh adapted his own novel along with screenwriter John Hodge resulting in a unique structure along with no shortage of witty, biting dialogue. This film is quite funny for much of its runtime....except when it's definitively NOT funny. :/(Audio clip) 

There's some brutal stuff for sure that Boyle and crew never shy away from...especially THAT scene featuring the infant and Tommy's tragic story. Tommy is played by Kevin McKidd as a well-meaning lovesick football bro whose life starts to fall apart and happens to start shooting up at the WORST possible time. McKidd does a strong job painting some broad strokes in just a few select scenes…

And that's not to say that the rest of this cast doesn't leave its mark. From this flashing forward 20+ years to his supporting role in Wonder Woman, Ewen Bremner seems to be playing the SAME type of runty sadsack in the same way but I somehow always find him endearing regardless. 🤔 His Spud appears to be the most innocent of their immediate crew but that just leaves you wondering how he ended up in the same situations. It's an effective portrayal of some one mired in drug addiction and crime who never actually made the conscious choice to do so...he just followed others.

Johnny Lee Miller as Sick Boy is of course very entertaining if nothing else for all of his pontificating about Connery and Bond but even he has that ONE moment where we see him break down....before prancing around for the rest of the film as a well-dressed scam artist always cracking wise, it all tracks as you realize that's how HE copes.

And that of course leaves us with Begbie played unforgettably by Robert Carlyle in one of the better unapologetic pure thug performances of the '90's....which had no shortage of them. (cough...Pesci....cough) :) He's just a walking raw nerve feeding into his aggression with more and more alcohol...we always think we know where his behavior is headed but it still feels pretty shocking when he explodes.

BOYLE-ing Point (Over his 30 year career, Danny Boyle has not only proven adept at mastering a variety of genres but he also managed to leave his personal stamp EACH time…whether that be through casting, music, and/or shot selection.  This is THE signature moment within this film when it is most obvious that we are enjoying a Danny Boyle joint!):

Rewatching this for the first time in several years, I was reminded that Danny Boyle must have been a REALLY good director to get me jazzed to be re-watching films of his rife with the one type of on-screen imagery that I can't typically tolerate: bathroom humor...you know THAT kind of imagery. :o And yet you have the "Worst Toilet in Scotland" scene early on in this film....and that early scene with youngest Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire. Both scenes would have me fleeing the theater in lesser hands but Boyle has always been a pretty fearless filmmaker who - with tight editing, pitch perfect casting, natural performances, energetic camera work which never grates, and his FANTASTIC use of music - excelled at making some of the most disturbing things more palatable while keeping them cinematic.  And that early scene featuring a VERY dirty stall is just a prime example!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Of course one of the lasting legacies of this film is that it features an ALL-TIME soundtrack featuring a powerhouse lineup of songs from Leftfield, Iggy Pop, Primal Scream, Elastica, Blur....if you were as big a fan of "Britpop" as I was at the time, it never left your CD player! ;)  About half of the songs were expressly recorded for the soundtrack and the rest were just recent selections from some bands which at the time were pretty hot.  One standout among them was a band I was mildly obsessed with at the time of release….what I didn’t know is that they had been around since 1978?  Yes I’m referring to Sheffield, England’s own Pulp which provide one of the bouncier songs on the soundtrack later in the film over a montage of our gang messing around in London….this witty song is titled, “Mile End.” (Audio clip) 

Now I was genuinely TORN between TWO distinct needle-drops for this category but the other one is more of a visual highlight so I’ll save that.  As far as I’m concerned, THE musical highlight comes at the very end of the film….and that would be many have now considered the official ANTHEM for this movie…and as you’ve already heard, I even consider it my anthem for Danny Boyle’s filmography.  It’ all starts with Renton making having cigarette smoke blown in his face after witnessing Begbie ONE last time do what he does worst…(Audio clip) 

And then we hear the notes kick for  Underworld's "Born Slippy." :) Watching Ewan McGregor walk into the camera smiling reprising his whole "Choose Life...."  voice-over monologue as we hear the beats escalating over Karl Hyde literally shouting the lyrics....it's a fist-pump ending even though it really shouldn't be. McGregor's Renton hasn't done anything particularly heroic nor even that removed from his generally selfish attitude leading up to this moment. (Audio clip) 

But as McGregor plays him, it feels like a fitting baby-step towards getting his character a bit closer towards leading a clean, adult, generally "normal" life. Normal of course CAN be quite dull but it's the best possible outcome for anyone (even still just in their '20's) who has wallowed for years chasing after and taking heroine.  As far as I’m concerned, this canny musical choice not only cements Ewan McGregor as one of our more reliable acting talents with genuine star charisma….but Boyle as a director too.  The song SELLS it, no wonder it has become such an iconic stadium anthem since then. (Audio clip)  

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Now back to Kevin McKidd potraying Tommy who ends up being THE most tragic figure of this story….and this is a bit of a weird one.  But because of his presence, it REMAINS a huge oversight that his character was never included in any of the now iconic outdoor marketing for this movie….you know, those now ICONIC orange and white line-up posters which were likely plastered up in the dorm room of EVERY Anglophile for the ten years after this was first released?  No instead to mix things up and add a female presence, they included Kelly McDonald’s Diane mugging for the camera in her party dress instead.  Hey…I get it WHY….but it just always felt like JUST  a bit of a sleight towards McKidd and his performance.  Strange quibble I know – and McKidd has had a solid career since then – but it just always bugged me that he wasn't included in that cast line-up. ☹ (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie): 

As mentioned previously, there’s yet ANOTHER significant needle-drop utilized for what I consider to be THE signature sequence of this film….one which threads that needle (pun intended) between delivering a cinematic, even elegant portrayal of our main protagonist experiencing an overdose and the pathetic sadness and mundane ugliness of reaching that low.  It occurs at the EXACT half-way point of the film as Renton has been arrested again for shoplifting though has avoided jailtime….so he decides to celebrate by heading over to Swanney’s (Peter Mullan) for a hit…..first the camera closes in on the actual injection….and then on Renton center-frame as he OD’s and falls into the carpet…. (Audio clip)  

And the gorgeous, somber song we hear over this comes from Lou Reed – the former lead-singer of the Velvet Underground – from his 1972 album “Transformer” and it was a B-side to his breakout hit at the time, “Walk on the Wild Side.”  And while we hear this slow, gradual piano-based elegy, the camera follows Renton’s now lifeless body as he’s moved out to the street by Swanney, dispatched on a cab, and then left on the ground in front of the local emergency room where they then bring him.  The ONE visual flourish of this sequence is that whenever the camera takes Renton’s POV looking upward, we see the edges of that sunken carpet on both sides…..just a beautiful sequence, the song accompanying it is the memorable “Perfect Day.” (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film): 

I was SO tempted to choose Ewan McGregor as THIS was a breakout role for him delivered a staggering performance filled with contradictions which shouldn’t work but do thanks to his all-out charisma.  And it’s close but at the end of the day – given just how many ballsy choices he makes with regards to the tone and structure of this film, all of the risks which DO pay off – the MVP HAS to be Danny Boyle, this film announced him to world as a major filmmaker for decades to come. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Top-to-bottom, everyone is firing on all cylinders for this movie and almost twenty-nine years later, it still holds up a fantastic time capsule of its time period but also just an all-around great film and youth and addiction.   

Streaming on fubo, Paramount Plus, and hoopla

And that ends another COLONIZED BY WANKERS review!