ECSTASY (2011)

Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Rob Heydon
Cast: Adam Sinclair, Kristin Kreuk, Billy Boyd, Carlo Rota, Ashley Pover, Keram Malicki-Sanchez
RunTime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scene and Drug Theme)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.ecstasymovie.com/
 
Opening Day: 27 June 2013 

Synopsis: Based on Irvine Welsh’s controversial book, ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, ecstasy is a twisted tale that explores the euphoric highs and the devastating lows of a chemical romance. Lloyd (Adam Sinclair) is on top of the world – beautiful girls, great club sounds, and a never ending supply of the love drug, sustained by a smuggling sideline for the local drug boss Solo (Carlo Rota). But when he meets Heather (Kristin Kreuk) he is forced to question if the love he feels is real or just another chemical high. As cracks start to appear in his world he realises he wants out. If he can just pull off one last trip for Solo, he’ll be free.

Movie Review:

We remember being completely stoked by Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting back in the 1990s. The British film based on Scottish writer Irvine Walsh’s novel was part comedy, part drama and all mind blowing. Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle were our heroes, and we sought to be as cool as them, even if it meant being on drugs. Some 10 odd years later, director Rob Heydon decided to take on Welsh’s short story Undefeated from the best selling book Ecstasy and make it into a movie. Would it be as cool as Trainspotting? One could only wish.

The story seems uber cool though: A middle class and loveless Heather finds solace in Lloyd, a drug addict, at a club. Despite spending most of their time on drugs, the two fall hopelessly in love. As with every drug addict’s sad tale, Lloyd owes money to a mobster and things get violently bloody. Heather begins to question his lifestyle and begins doubting the love between them. When Lloyd almost dies after a drug smuggling operation and almost loses his girl, he decides to take control of his life. The question is, will his foes allow him to do so?

This dated production first premiered in Canada two year ago, and one really wonders why local distributors have decided to only bring it to cinemas here now. Could it be the allure of the female lead Kristin Kreuk? As lovely as she is playing Lois Lane in TV’s Smallville, she was Chun Li in the box office bomb Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (2009). She looks pretty in this Canadian production, and that’s basically it we have to say about her performance. Could it be Billy Boyd, who plays a supporting character in this 99 minute movie? The Scottish actor does deliver a memorable performance as a fellow druggie (watch out for a scene where he goes awry in the hospital), but he is, after all, known here only as Pippin in the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings – that surely doesn’t command much marketing hype.

We can only imagine how much pressure there is for the male lead Adam Sinclair, who plays Lloyd. There are quite a number of harrowing scenes where we shuddered in fear (lesson to all: do not take drugs), but the dude is relatively unknown here (Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, Painkiller Jane or TV’s The Day of the Triffids, anyone?). And as much as we hate comparisons, he is not Ewan Mcgregor. We know we shouldn’t be superficial, but during this period of wham bham summer blockbusters, we were really hoping to see a well known star helm this morally powerful story.

The plot of this somewhat independent film (why must there be so many time lapses of the beautiful Amsterdamanyway?) dwindles quite a bit in the second half, but picks up pace during the climatic drug operation. That said, there are still some lessons viewers can take home after the credits roll – it’s just not as cool as Trainspotting, that’s all. 

Movie Rating:

(The Canadian wants to be as cool as Trainspotting, but the meandering plot and mediocre performances do not help)

Review by John Li