Trainspotting · Movies · RewatchVault

Roger Ebert's review

Roger Ebert’s stated score is three stars.

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 00:30:59Read transcript

The stated score is three stars.
The quoted review credits the movie’s energy and close observation but asks whether it leads anywhere or says anything.

Casting What-Ifs

A performer whose name is transcribed as You and Bremer had played Renton onstage; Christopher Eccleston was considered for Begby, and Robert Carlyle had earlier pursued Shallow Grave.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:59:39Read transcript

A performer whose name is transcribed as You and Bremer originated Renton in a stage production.
Christopher Eccleston was the initial Begby image in the director’s mind.
Robert Carlyle had auditioned for the Ewan McGregor role in Shallow Grave but refused to soften the character’s working-class accent.
After also playing Renton in a reading, Carlyle was invited back and chose Begby after considering Sick Boy.
The director’s belief that small psychos are best resolved Carlyle’s concern that he was physically unlike the novel’s Begby.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers locations, Begby’s private backstory, preparation films, US edits, and early accent replacement.

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:15:09Read transcript

The story is set in Edinburgh but was largely filmed in Glasgow.
Kelly Macdonald is reported to have been a 19-year-old Scottish waitress who answered a casting flyer.
The cast was shown Goodfellas, A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, and The Hustler as preparation.
Robert Carlyle privately played Begby as a closeted gay man whose rage turns against friends rather than the person he meets at the club.
The Lost Boys was another preparation film used to evoke young people living dangerously.
The US cut shortened explicit needle footage and showed less of Ewan McGregor during the sex scene.
For the US release, some opening dialogue was replaced to make the Scottish accents easier to understand.

Picking Nits

The condom continuity, bus-locker key, late AIDS context, Sick Boy’s compressed arc, Begby’s fugitive behavior, and the unseen drug tester are questioned.

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:17:57Read transcript

The discussion of edits for the American release introduces a continuity nitpick: Renton appears naked in the bedroom, then removes a condom in the hallway.
The panel asks how Renton gives Spud the bus-locker key while retaining access to his passport, then suggests he relocked and mailed it.
AIDS and HIV arrive abruptly midway through the movie despite being central to Tommy’s fate.
Sick Boy’s grief, nihilism, and turn to pimping receive less space than their emotional importance warrants.
The violent fugitive claims to be on the run yet returns to Scotland for the drug deal and travels openly by bus.
The young man who tests the heroin enters a bathroom, never reappears, and is not mentioned after the dealer returns.

Recasting Couch

No replacement cast is proposed.

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:19:06Read transcript

The panel declines to recast because it lacks enough knowledge of the period’s Scottish and English actors.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The questions ask how an earlier sequel might have landed and whether Kevin McKidd’s absence from the campaign changed his career.

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:27:55Read transcript

The panel wonders whether a sequel made ten years earlier would have reached a different cultural moment.
Kevin McKidd missed the one-day promotional photo shoot while on vacation, prompting a question about whether inclusion might have changed his career.