La critique de James Berardinelli (fin)

In the end, Trainspotting has an anti-drug message, but it presents its case through character studies, not preaching. There are a lot of gruesome images, some of which are presented in an oddly humorous context. For example, take Renton's headfirst dive into the "worst toilet in Scotland" or Spud's reaction when he wakes up in soiled sheets. In portraying the cycle of addiction -- using drugs, trying to get clean, then giving in again -- Trainspotting recalls Drugstore Cowboy and The Basketball Diaries. Boyle's style, however, is distinctly his own. This is a kinetic movie, where everything, including the camera, keeps moving. This isn't an examination of the Scottish drug culture from the outside looking in, it's one from the inside looking out.

For one hour, Trainspotting is as compelling as any motion picture to be released this year. It's exciting, energetic, thought-provoking, and never lets up. Unfortunately, during the film's last third, the focus starts to shift, and, in doing so, it blurs. Suddenly, after battling addiction for sixty minutes, Renton and his friends become Scotland's answer to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs -- a group of inept thieves committing the "dodgiest scam" in a lifetime of petty crimes. There's mistrust, betrayal, and bloodshed. But, while this material has some appeal, it's debatable whether it belongs here. For a segment like this to really work, it needs more time and attention than Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge are able to give it. As such, the subplot seems almost like an afterthought, taking the film away from its darker, more compelling material and opening the door to a hopeful, if ironic, ending.

The overlong epilogue aside, Trainspotting is one of the summer's most arresting motion pictures, and not just because of the offbeat visual style. There's nothing new or unique about the story, but it is presented in a manner that reinforces its immediacy and impact. The film makers were determined to make this a street-level view of addiction, not some "voyeuristic Oxbridge graduate's perception of these people". In that goal, they have succeeded, and, while Trainspotting is not without its faults, it offers a powerful portrait that all of Miramax's overhyping cannot diminish.