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THE BEACH Send This Review to a Friend
Only diehard fans of Leonardo DiCaprio may be able to tolerate "The Beach" for long. Director Danny Boyle, with a screenplay by John Hodge, have created a hodgepodge of a movie in which DiCaprio as a restless young American named Richard follows a map that he comes upon in Thailand and, teaming with a French couple, heads for a secluded area where a commune has been established by people who want to make it their secret paradise. Getting there is a challenge. Living there is even more of a challenge. Watching the movie is the biggest challenge of all.
As you might expect, there's trouble in paradise. Sex, for one thing, marijuana for another. A huge marijuana crop is guarded by armed men who don't like strangers in the vicinity. DiCaprio soon becomes the lover of the French woman, played provocatively by Virginie Ledoyen. The leading force in the commune is domineering Sal (Tilda Swinton), who likes to take her sex on demand. What can poor Richard do?
There's little point in detailing much of the rest. What's meant to be a Shangri-La turns into a nightmare, proving that humans can make a mess of everything, but the whole scene is too stupid to make a viewer care. Despite throwing in shark attacks and the plight of the next group of would-be visitors, plus an over-the-top performance by Robert Carlyle as an advice-spewing stranger who meets a bloody fate early in the film but haunt's Richard's mind, the impression that all is nonsense builds irrevocably. A 20th Century-Fox release.
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