I think that this is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen

Spoilers!!!

First of all, I loved the insight into Glaswegian culture this movie provided. Cultural differences fascinate me, and the thick accents are barely reminiscent of being English at times. It was fun to listen to, and it was fun to compare the subtitles to what was actually being said.

As far as the movie goes, for the first half of the film, I just couldn't see any other out for James besides suicide. The scene when James and his ma come home from shopping and run into Ryan Quinn's ma was absolutely horrible to endure. I've been through chronic depression, and the film does an outstanding job of depicting the emotional highs and lows that someone who is chronically depressed goes through. Particularly, the scene after James's da gets the medal sent me on an emotional roller coaster. I kept wanting to think that there was hope for James, and when he was dancing and laughing with his mother, I actually felt like that hope was there. Then, immediately afterwards, his father comes home drunk and battered and slaps his wife.

Although almost boring at times, this movie is definitely an emotional one. I actually started to feel attached to James, and the scene when Kenny was swinging around the pole and announced that he saw James kill Ryan Quinn, I actually felt terror for poor James. That was a very emotional and well done scene, and I knew it was all over for James at that point.

I agree with some other posters on this board that I wish that the wonderful scene of James smiling in the golden field would have been the final scene in the movie. To be honest, I was still reeling from Kenny's revelation when the movie ended, so there isn't much that could have been done to punctuate that. I also don't see how any other interpretation could be given to the ending besides James's suicide. They didn't even need to show him jumping into the canal.