Editing Trainspotting (film) (section)

===Critical reception===
The film has an approval rating of 90% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 95 reviews collected by the site, with an average score of 8.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "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".<ref name="tomato">{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trainspotting|title=Trainspotting (1996)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=April 30, 2024|archive-date=27 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171127041504/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trainspotting/|url-status=live}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted average]] score of 83 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web|title=Trainspotting|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/trainspotting|website=Metacritic|access-date=8 February 2018|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112013158/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/trainspotting|url-status=live}}</ref> In his review for ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Derek Malcolm]] gave the film credit for tapping into the youth subculture of the time and felt that it was "acted out with a freedom of expression that's often astonishing."<ref name="malcolm">{{cite news | last = Malcolm | first = Derek | title = Trainspotting | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = 22 February 1996 | url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,530807,00.html | access-date = 16 April 2009 | location = London | archive-date = 7 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120407202859/http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,530807,00.html | url-status = live }}</ref> ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine gave the film five out of five stars and described the film as "something Britain can be proud of and Hollywood must be afraid of. If we Brits can make movies this good about subjects this horrific, what chance does Tinseltown have?"<ref name="jeffries">{{cite news | last = Jeffries | first = Neil | title = Trainspotting Review | work = [[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | url = https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/trainspotting-review/ | date=1 January 2000 | access-date = 16 April 2009 }}</ref>

American film critic [[Roger Ebert]] gave the film three out of four stars and praised its portrayal of addicts' experiences with each other.<ref name="ebert">{{cite news | last = Ebert | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Ebert | title = Trainspotting | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date = 26 July 1996 | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/trainspotting-1996 | access-date = 16 April 2009 | archive-date = 12 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130412084854/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/trainspotting-1996 | url-status = live }}</ref> In his review for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[Kenneth Turan]] wrote, "in McGregor ... the film has an actor whose magnetism monopolizes our attention no matter what".<ref name="turan">{{cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Turan |title=Movie Review : Talkin' 'bout Their Lost Generation |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=19 July 1996 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-19-ca-25541-story.html |access-date=16 April 2009 |archive-date=12 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012030705/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-19-ca-25541-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film an "A" rating and [[Owen Gleiberman]] wrote, "Like [[Martin Scorsese|Scorsese]] and [[Quentin Tarantino|Tarantino]], Boyle uses pop songs as rhapsodic mood enhancers, though in his own ravey-hypnotic style. Whether he's staging a fumbly sex montage to [[Sleeper (band)|Sleeper]]'s version of "[[Atomic (song)|Atomic]]" or having Renton go cold turkey to the ominous slow build of Underworld's "[[Dark & Long|Dark and Long]]" ... ''Trainspotting'' keeps us wired to the pulse of its characters' passions".<ref name="gleiberman">{{cite magazine | last = Gleiberman | first = Owen | author-link = Owen Gleiberman | title = Trainspotting: Read EW's original 1996 review | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | date = 19 July 1996 | url = https://ew.com/article/1996/07/19/trainspotting-2/ | access-date = 16 April 2009 | archive-date = 27 April 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090427122247/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293364,00.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In her review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Janet Maslin]] wrote, "''Trainspotting'' doesn't have much narrative holding it together. Nor does it really have the dramatic range to cope with such wild extremes. Most of it sticks to the same moderate pitch, with entertainment value enhanced by Mr. Boyle's savvy use of wide angles, bright colours, attractively clean compositions and a dynamic pop score".<ref name="maslin">{{cite news | last = Maslin | first = Janet | author-link = Janet Maslin | title = Bad Taste in a Vile Story Doesn't Rule Out Fun | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 19 July 1996 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/19/movies/film-review-bad-taste-in-a-vile-story-doesn-t-rule-out-fun.html | access-date = 16 April 2009 | archive-date = 26 May 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150526164937/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/19/movies/film-review-bad-taste-in-a-vile-story-doesn-t-rule-out-fun.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s [[Peter Travers]] wrote, "the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. ''Trainspotting'' is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein".<ref name="travers">{{cite magazine | last = Travers | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Travers | title = Trainspotting | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | date = 23 February 1996 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/trainspotting-104723/ | access-date = 16 April 2009 | quote = Believe him or not, Trainspotting looks hard at the alternatives to living in oblivion. They're not as trendy as stealing and shooting up to a pulsating Brit-pop score (Elastica, Primal Scream, Pulp), but the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. Trainspotting is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein. | archive-date = 12 October 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191012032243/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/trainspotting-104723/ | url-status = live }}</ref> In his review for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[Desson Howe]] wrote, "Without a doubt, this is the most provocative, enjoyable pop-cultural experience since ''Pulp Fiction''".<ref name="howe">{{cite news | last = Howe | first = Desson | author-link = Desson Howe | title = ''Trainspotting'': A Wild Ride | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = 26 July 1996 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/trainspottinghowe.htm | access-date = 16 April 2009 | archive-date = 7 November 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121107213514/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/trainspottinghowe.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]], in his review for the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'', wrote, "Like ''[[Twister (1996 film)|Twister]]'' and ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'', this movie is a theme-park ride – though it's a much better one, basically a series of youthful thrills, spills, chills, and swerves rather than a story intended to say very much".<ref name="rosenbaum">{{cite news | last = Rosenbaum | first = Jonathan | author-link = Jonathan Rosenbaum | title = Too High to Die | work = [[Chicago Reader]] | date = 26 July 1996 | url = http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0896/08026.html | access-date = 16 April 2009 | archive-date = 20 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080720113006/http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0896/08026.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The film's release sparked controversy in some countries, including Britain, Australia and the United States, as to whether or not it promoted and romanticised drug use. [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Bob Dole]] accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 U.S. presidential campaign]], although he later admitted that he had not seen the film.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Andrew|title=The fall and fall of Bob Dole|url=http://www.salon.com/1996/09/19/news_544/|access-date=11 January 2012|newspaper=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=19 September 1996|archive-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915200324/http://www.salon.com/1996/09/19/news_544/|url-status=live}}</ref> Producer of the film Andrew Macdonald responded to these claims in a [[BBC]] interview stating "we were determined to show why people took drugs ... you had to show that it was fun and that it was awful" to which Boyle adds "It's the music and humour that makes people feel it's glamorising drugs."<ref>{{cite episode|series=[[Movie Connections]] |title=Trainspotting |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL4yTYFqX2Y&feature=youtu.be&themeRefresh=1 |date=26 January 2009 |network=BBC One |access-date=16 February 2016}}</ref> Despite the controversy, it was widely praised and received a nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]] in that year's [[Academy Awards]]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine ranked ''Trainspotting'' as the third best film of 1996.<ref name="time96">{{cite magazine | title = The Best of Cinema 1996 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = 23 December 1996 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985745,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070717025427/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985745,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 17 July 2007 | access-date = 16 April 2009}}</ref>