Review Of Three Movies: Trainspotting, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off And Jurassic Park Essay, Research Paper

Review Of Three Movies: Trainspotting, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Jurassic Park

English 11

5 December 1996

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle. Set among the junkies

and thugs of Edinburgh’s slums and made by (director Danny Boyle, writer John

Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald) that created “Shallow Grave,” “Trainspotting”

caused a sensation in Britain, where it took in more money than any U.K. film

except “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and ignited strong controversy over its

attitude toward heroin. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), the film’s narrator,

unleashes an overpowering verbal torrent that gets things off to an aggressive

start.

“Choose life,” Renton insists in voice-over as store detectives chase after him

for shoplifting. “Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a

[beep] big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and

electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.

Choose fixed-income mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your

friends. . . . “But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to

choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who

needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?” It is very difficult to resist the film’s

great energy.

“Trainspotting’s” subject matter is raw and raunchy, including AIDS, overdoses

and violence as well as obscene situations described in unprintable language.

This is a film that makes you laugh of things that can in no way be described as

funny. How is this possible? In the film’s signature scene, where Renton, in

search of some lost opium suppositories, dives head-first into “the filthiest

toilet in Scotland” and emerges in a sublime and spacious undersea world. And

despite Renton’s celebrated saying on the pleasures of heroin, boasting, “Take

the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you’re still nowhere

near it,” “Trainspotting” is only interested in drugs because its characters are.

Most feeble of the characters is the glasses-wearing Spud (Ewen Bremner). Most

devious is Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), who knows all there is to know about

Sean Connery. Most innocent is Tommy (Kevin McKidd), whose insistence on telling

the truth no matter what is viewed as a fatal weakness. And most dangerous is

the beer-drinking, heroin-hating psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle)..

Some of the funniest parts include Renton’s sudden passion for the mysterious

Diane (Kelly Macdonald) and Tommy’s attempt to get the boys interested in the

outdoors, which leads to Renton’s “I hate being Scottish” tirade, which ends:

“Some people hate the English, but I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the

other hand, are colonized by wankers. We can’t even pick a decent culture to be

colonized by.”

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremmer, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller

Credits: Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, from the novel by

Irvine Welsh.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

One of the all-time greatest comedies, this movie tells the tale of a smart

Chicago teenager (Matthew Broderick), who ditches school with his girlfriend

(Mia Sara) and his neurotic best friend (Alan Ruck), so they can spend a day in

the windy city. It also turns out that Broderick wants to build his buddy Ruck’s

self-esteem, a task that turns out to be a more difficult than he imagined. As

if this wasn’t enough, Broderick’s sister (Jennifer Grey) and his principal (a

hilariously funny Jeffery Jones), truly believe he’s playing hookey and they

both want to nail him in the act. Talk about a dilemma.

This is a fine teenage comedy, with well-rounded, intelligent characters, giving

Broderick a great starring role. Some of the best scenes are formed around

Bueller’s ability to gleefully manipulate everybody and everything around him.

Those side-splitting, thigh-slapping scenes have to be seen to be believed. Of

course, he gets a little help from his friends (Sara and Ruck)..

The cinematography is good, with many pans and close ups in tight situation’s

making things even more intense and funny. If there was ever a film to put on

your “What-to-rent” list, this is it.

Jurassic Park

An amazing film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, that

revolutionized special effects in movies the way Star Wars and 2001: A Space

Odyssey did. The story concerns a tropical island, that is the home to living

Dinosaurs, brought back by way of DNA. The billionaire (Richard Attenborugh),

who owns the island, invites two paleontologists (Sam Neill and LauraDern), a

mathematician (Jeff Goldblum) and his grandkids (Ariana Richards and Joseph

Mazzello) to the island, unaware that anything can go wrong. Something does! In

a major way! A power failure allows the dinosaurs to escape from their cages and

roam the park, causing destruction and chaos.

Magnificent direction by the master of film fantasy Steven Spielberg, as well as

amazing digital effects, make this a captivating, roller coaster ride, with

plenty of suspense and astonishment to go along. True, the story isn’t really

close to the book version, but why quibble. The actors work well together within

some well set up scenes. Still, someone else should have been chosen for the

part of the mathematician other than Goldblum. He is completely unconvincing in

his role, and doesn’t really fit in that well. Other than that, the film is

practically flawless with excellent music, cinematography , and some of the

greatest special effects I have ever seen.