Iain Robertson makes a fine fist of portraying Nick Prentice, a character straight out of Trainspotting, even down to his job in Irvine Welsh’s home manor of Leith.
For just under an hour, we share a police interrogation room with the young security guard, a brutal Police Inspector and Prentice’s unhelpful, Fabio Capello-lookalike brief.
Having witnessed the death of his shoplifting nemesis, Gary Glover, there seems every chance that our man will be accused of his murder.
To make matters worse, the police have discovered a secret novel, which celebrates Pentice’s tawdry passion for Scarlett Johansson, who makes intermittent (mental) appearances to lighten the terrors of a tough interrogation.
Ronan O’Donnell writes in muscular, imagistic language that throws a light on the underclasses in Leith today, making himself a worthy successor to the mantle of Mr Welsh, not that the master of the genre apparently has any intention of retiring just yet.