Trainspotting

Conveying a vibe, an atmosphere, an experience in film is not an easy thing to do. Plenty of movies fail at it. But it's usually not enough to just place the viewer in a convincing world. You have to take them somewhere once they're in it.

"Trainspotting" does a great job of demonstrating what it's like to be a young junkie. The film gets at one of the main reasons people become an addicts. It doesn't have to be about poor role models, lousy economic prospects, or peer pressure. It can simply be because there's nothing better to do.

The film's antihero, Renton, sums it up nicely at one point when he's in withdrawal. "Once you get past the pain, that's when the battle really starts. Depression, boredom. It's enough to make you want to top yourself." Your twenties are when you realize that life is never going to be as good as you dreamed it when you were a kid. Drugs are a way to cope with this crushing disappointment.

Director Danny Boyle does a nice job of putting us in Renton's headspace. Boyle's energetic style meshes well with young characters. (Particularly here, where his approach has not yet evolved to the hyper-caffeinated state that made much of "127 Hours" feel like a music video.) He assists himself greatly with the soundtrack, which includes many '70s classics from the likes of Iggy Popp and Lou Reed. (Although it is disorienting to hear these songs in a film that takes place in the late '80s. It's a bit like when Cameron Crowe used lots of classic rock in "Singles," a movie about grunge-era Seattle.)

But Boyle is let down by his script. "Trainspotting" is based on a book of the same name with seven unconnected chapters. It's simply a bad candidate for an adaptation. Screenwriter John Hodge said that his goal was to "produce a screenplay which would seem to have a beginning , a middle and an end, would last 90 minutes and would convey at least some of the spirit and content of the book." When you're struggling to meet those bare-bones goals--as opposed to, say, crafting a compelling plot or overarching theme--it's a bad sign.

The result is a movie that feels very arbitrary. Renton goes on and off his habit. He's nice to his friends, he betrays his friends. British miserabilism mixes uncomfortably with attempts at broad humor.

Nonetheless, Boyle shows a lot of promise here. Any film that opens with a young punk running from the cops while "Lust for Life" blares can't be all bad.