Most sequels are hurriedly cobbled together in order to cash in on an unexpected bonanza, and they are generally dreadful (think Hangovers 2 and 3). This is more of a revisit, as director Danny Boyle, collaborating again with writer John Hodge, takes us back to Edinburgh after twenty years to see how the bad boys of T1 are getting on. Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is about to escape from prison, Simon (Johnny Lee Miller) works a sexual blackmail scam from his inherited auntie’s pub, Mark (Ewen McGregor) has returned to Scotland after his exile in Amsterdam and Spud (Ewen Bremner) remains a hopeless junkie. A brilliant script of perfect logic, in which one thing leads to another without the slightest hint of contrivance, has the maniacal Begbie hunting down Mark to avenge being ripped off all those years ago, while Mark and Simon have grand plans to establish a brothel with sexy Bulgarian Veronica as its madam and Spud chronicling the group’s activities while trying to get straight. It is a roller-coaster, manic ride and, as when we first encountered the entirely unwholesome characters, Boyle makes no judgment of them. They are presented as the products of their childhood (visual references are regularly made to their youth), unable to escape the direction set for them by the past, but not really wanting to either. It is a film of beautiful melancholy, poignant flashbacks, wicked dialogue (albeit with Carlyle’s accent occasionally incomprehensible) and some outrageously funny set pieces (Mark and Simon’s turn on stage at the 1690 Club where they lead the Loyalist mob in a chorus of ‘no more Catholics left’ is gold). It all fits together so meticulously and when the dust settles you realise that, for all their flaws, you really like these reprobates and are relieved to see that they have been able to find, if not treacly happiness, a self-understanding and acceptance of who they are – which can be just as fulfilling. Overwhelming for the hope and affection that shines through the grubbiness, this is one not to miss.
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