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An American sets off on an exotic adventure in Thailand in search of "The beach," a legendary tropical paradise free of conventional society's problems. But when he finds the modern day Eden, he learns that it hides more than a few disturbing secrets.
Let's think about that Hollywood mentalilty that you are only as good as your last movie. I feel that his last movie (Titanic) was poor, but DiCaprio is better than that, as he has shown in Marvin's Room and Romeo and Juliet, and I feel that this movie will be a lot better for his profile. The last movie made tons of $, this movie will be lucky to break $100 million (budget wise a huge hit nevertheless). Alex Garland's novel was a best-seller and the Trainspotting team decided to adapt it. Ewan Mcgregor would star as usual. However the main character underwent a transformation from a Englishmen to an American. Hence DiCaprio neatly slots into the role. Overall a good early 2000 prospect.
Review by Mark Eaves
The Beach gives us a very interesting look at paradise. Leonardo DiCaprio
plays Richard, a guy who seeks an adventure and is in search of paradise. He
ends up finding it, along with his two friends. All seems perfect for him,
and his new friends on the island. However, like anywhere on Earth, there
are always conflicts. It's up to all of them to decide what sacrifices are
to be made, in order to keep their "secret" island a secret. But of course,
our own human nature could not keep that up too long...
Leonardo DiCaprio is at his best. He provided the film with an excellent
performance, and it gave the viewers a chance to see his dark side. The
directing was great too! Danny Boyle made the film's themes flow very
smoothly (and there were a number of them). The film had great use of music
(excellent soundtrack), and very good cinematography!
Some parts of this movie reminded me of Lord of the Flies. It's not as
violent, but it's pretty much just as dark. They both follow the same
philosophy: the integrity of our own human nature cannot survive forever.
When DiCaprio is isolated from the rest of the people because he has to
recover the map, he slowly slips out of their society when he realizes he
can do anything he wants. This gives him a rush of evil, and an everlasting
supply of confidence. Very cool!!!!!
Overall, this movie rocks! Much better, and completely different than I
expected. It is not as simple as it sounds, however, it's not confusing.
It's a pretty straight-forward movie, with several different messages, with
somewhat of a deeper meaning to them. Definately worth seeing!!!
Movieman, 9 out of 10
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