One of the most successful box office hits to be released in the UK, Trainspotting is the epitome of the 1990's drug movies. Made and released during the time of grunge music and the economic recession here in North America, Trainspotting has all the angst and attitude of that era. Noted for its depiction of graphic heroin use, Trainspotting tells the story of the heroin junkie Renton and his friends from Edinburgh and his exploits to go clean and make it in life. Renton’s efforts to go sober in life are always one-upped by life itself, whether its friends dragging him back down or just having to deal with living.

Based on the novel by Irving Welsh, Trainspotting tries to validate the use of hard drugs by showing that the everyday banalities of life (the interaction with family and friends, paying the bills, raising children, "making it" in the world) can be avoided by a simple and loving addiction to drugs. Renton is then forced to go sober by his parents and in this sober states he finally decides to accept his mundane existence and join the rest of the working world. Renton moves from Edinburgh to London to live amongst the real people and achieves some semblance of success when inevitably his Edinburgh friends come calling with a plan to make a lot of money which of course involves selling a couple kilos of heroin.

At times funny, other times shockingly trippy, Trainspotting’s ups and downs are made to mimic the ups and downs of the heroin high. In the end the movie becomes more than just the exploits of a heroin junkie but rather it become a story of Renton growing up and accepting his responsibilities as a man.