This was a rather short screenplay. It only clocks in at 106 pages. The dialogue is pithy and funny and outrageous and disgusting. Especially the scene where McGregor dives into Scotland's dirtiest toilet. I had to turn away it was so gross. The film follows the script remarkably well. I was laughing out loud at the scene where Spud throws crop on his girlfriend and her parents at breakfast. That scene is offset by the death of the baby and all the shooting up.
I have scene several movies about heroin addiction and this one is the most recent to delve into addiction. It is by far the most graphic I've seen. The Man with the Golden Arm delves into similar territory. The agony of heroin addiction is something that should be wished on no one. Roger Ebert writes about the fun of addiction. That the friends you make along the way are compensation enough for the withdrawal and problems an addict gets into. Furthermore he states that it's the atmosphere that addiction takes place in that addicts miss the most. Not necessarily the drugs themselves.
I guess that's true. Of the friends I have that have died of overdose they were well liked. Yet, I can't see giving up one's life willingly as being adequate compensation for drug addiction. Heroin is a scourge. Addiction is a disease. It has a cure. The sooner we understand that and go from there, the more lives will be spared.
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