a movie that dares to challenge the audience
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04/17/01
Trainspotting (1995)
89
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:54
Fresh:48
Rotten:6
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: A brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use.
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: A kinetic, intimate look inside the subculture of heroin abuse, this acclaimed adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel follows the misadventures of Renton, a brash, twenty-something Edinburgh junkie,... [More]
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd
Director: Danny Boyle
Reviews for Trainspotting
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/09/06
Top Critic[Has] a wild cinematic style that suggests a lust for the new, the different.
01/01/00
You stop cringing and start smiling, laughing even, and these kids, who seem like aliens at first, grow on you. They're weirdly likable.
01/01/00
Instead of the social-realism approach taken by most movies dealing with drug subcultures, Trainspotting observes its subjects with a mordant eye -- an inclusive perspective...
01/01/00
This isn't an examination of the Scottish drug culture from the outside looking in, it's one from the inside looking out.
01/01/00
Wickedly funny, sick, insightful, depressing, dirty, unjudging, awesomely acted and brilliant.
01/01/00
A pop culture sensation that drew notice to its own urgency and immediacy.
06/02/04
Trainspotting manages to be hip, happening, graphic, tragic, violent, cool, filthy, sick, and very funny, and the tragically hip arthouse crowd on this side of the ocean are going to eat it up.
01/01/00
A spirited, energetic, hilarious take on one of the least spirited, energetic, or hilarious topics of all: heroin addition
01/01/00
Trainspotting will have to go down in the annals as one of the great anti-heroin films of all time -- better than Otto Preminger's The Man With The Golden Arm, and on a par with Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy, maybe even better!
04/09/05
Danny Boyle's movie achieves -- at least for a while -- the psychedelic high for which it clearly aims, but like the heroin fixes he vividly portrays, his film doesn't have much long-term impact.
01/10/03
A fine example of efficient, resourceful filmmaking.
01/01/00
The movie has been attacked as pro-drug and defended as anti-drug, but actually it is simply pragmatic. It knows that addiction leads to an unmanageable, exhausting, intensely uncomfortable daily routine, and it knows that only two things make it bearable
01/01/00
Top CriticBased on Irvine Welsh's novel, this visually rich, culturally allusive film focuses on a small group of friends who are frustrated, rebellious and full of passions.
01/01/00
Among its deeper merits is that it proves a movie doesn't have to be mean to be fresh.
08/05/07
Though dark in tone and the bulk of the humor is blacker than a raven's wing at midnight, Boyle's sense of humanity persistently creeps in around the edges.
04/02/09
This is probably the most honest movie ever made about drug addiction.
01/01/00
...nastier, funnier, and scary enough to keep me away from any kind of drugs...
01/01/00
Latest News for Trainspotting
January 09, 2009:
UK Critics Consensus: Indifference For Defiance, Whilst Slumdog Millionaire Shines
A trip to the cinema is a sure-fire way to beat the January blues, but which film should you be shelling out to see? Vying for your pennies this weekend we have Daniel Craig in... More...
January 09, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Golden Globe-Winner Danny Boyle
After sweeping the Critics' Choice Awards this week, visionary and eclectic director Danny Boyle shares his five favourite films with Rotten Tomatoes. As you'd expect from his... More...
August 24, 2005:
Danny Boyle's "Sun" Begins to Shine
Thanks to ComingSoon.net for sharing a press release from Fox Searchlight regarding Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" -- and the fact that it began shooting yesterday. More...
June 10, 2005:
Searchlight Moving Forward With Boyle's "Sunshine"
Variety reports some great news for all you Danny Boyle fans out there. Production will get underway on "Sunshine" this summer, and the unpredictable director already... More...
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