| Product: |
The Beach (DVD) |
| Date: |
07/11/02 (40 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review
Ahh, a movie with Leonardo Di Caprio in the starring role - what could be more enjoyable? Perhaps an evening spent sticking pins in your eyes eh? I've had the misfortune of enduring three of Leo's other movies before this one: Critters 3 (which he can't be blamed for), The Man In The Iron Mask where he's miserably miscast in a crap movie and more unfortunately he plays two roles badly instead of just one and Titanic...don't get me started on that one! With those movies in mind, and with Poison Ivy there too which I turned off before half an hour had passed, I was less than interested in seeing The Beach either and wouldn't have were the choice entirely up to me in those days. Sadly it wasn't and I did and anyway, I heard the book it was based on was meant to be good.
All I can say is, there can't have been that much of the book which actually made it into the movie.
It's easy to criticise Leo, so I'm not going to. If you like him, then you like him, if not, then he looks 14 years old and it's difficult to picture him as the worldly-wise globetrotter he apparently is here even if he has toned up for the role. As it happens, he is more suited and gives a better performance in this movie than he has in any of the previous efforts I've seen which perhaps bodes well for the future. What is somewhat easier to criticise is the rather numbskullish screenplay which tries damn hard to appeal to can't think/won't think audiences in spite of itself whilst trying to counterbalnce it all with some undeniably gorgeous backdrops. Most of The Beach takes place on an island paradise in a movie which is watchable in a Blue Lagoon kind of way but we first meet up with the movie's main character Richard(Leonardo Di Caprio) in Bangkok. His seedy hotel room adjoins that of another world traveller Daffy(Robert Carlyle) and a French couple Etienne(Guillaume Canet) and Francoise(Virginie Ledoyen). Daffy is raving m
ad(as Carlyle does best) and before shuffling off this mortal coil, draws Richard a map which apparently will lead to a forgotten island paradise. Thirsting for adventure Richard, along with his two French neighbours set off to see if they can find the it...
...and would you Adam and Eve it, they do and it's everything mad Daffy sad it was. The island is home to a small band of travellers of all creeds and colours who have chosen to leave behind the hustle and bustle of modern life and go back to nature in the best way possible. They like their island to remain a secret but accept the three willingly enough, but it's not long before there's trouble in paradise....bet ya didn't see that coming eh? ;o)
The problem with The Beach is not in it's first half to two thirds, which are visually gorgeous and feature the kind of getting-away-from-it-all fantasy we can probably all aspire to in many respects, but rather in it's later collapse into something quite nonsensical in its final third and the weak romance which runs through it. The Beach is at it's best when the community is braving shark attacks and doing the whole back to nature thing but when the seemingly obligatory romantic angle kicks in it all becomes very humdrum. Richard wants Francoise, but first he must tease her away from Etienne, a task which is not only rather limply achieved but suffers no repercussions either. I don't know about you, but if someone started hitting on my partner I think I might be a little more miffed than Etienne who scowls and glowers a lot but that's about it. Maybe the French are more laid back. Anyway, this is dull and there is no chemistry between the two actors either so the romance never smoulders even in this idyllic setting - arguably quite an achievement in itself.
The romantic angle is weak, but it's not a killer as you've still got the idyllic setting and the fantasy escapism. The problem comes when The B
each hits the final third and goes off on one. You see, it appears Richard's loose lips might be about to cause the whole forgotten paradise thing to collapse...so inexplicably he turns into some bush wildman, a cross between Rambo and Tarzan, cutting himself off from the group and running around native, stalking tourists. Huh? Throughout this episode we get to see Richard as he sees himself, as a character in a computer game, stalking his tourist prey and being haunted by nightmarish visions of the insane Daffy...it's very weird and nonsensical...but don't worry, because just as suddenly as the psychosis sets in, dear old Leo snaps out of it again as if it had never happened! There is no explanation of what all this is about, not even a hint, perhaps it makes more sense if you've read the book but apparently it's one of those times when a movie slaughters its source so perhaps not. It's bizarre anyway and a somewhat confused lead into a unfortunately deeply lame, deeply anti-climatic ending too.
The Beach could have been a better movie had it concentrated more upon the themes which it instead only barely pays reference to in its desire to appeal to a wider audience with a clumsy romance instead. Thematically, The Beach is like a return to paradise for mankind and this small community has the chance to get it right this time but once more sours perfection as Man always will. Mankind will destroy anything it touches with its own greed and lustful desires is one of the messages and numerous nods to the Bible and the Garden of Eden abound, not least subtlety in the drinking of snake's blood around the mid-point. There is also a strong ecological theme although, noble in concept I'm sure, it doesn't really hold much water when you think of a film crew and a bunch of actors stomping around a fragile island eco-system...
It's a shame that The Beach couldn't have been a little more adventurous in its explorati
ons of it's themes but instead is little more than a Blue Lagoon for the 90s, with gorgeous scenery, a limp romance and a bizarre degeneration into "what the hell?" territory around two-thirds into the movie. It's relatively entertaining on a conceptual level but you have to do all the mental work yourself if you want to take it to any particularly interesting depths. The Beach is sadly happy to paddle around in the lagoon rather than to swim out into the deep thematic waters it occasionally is almost brave enough to hint at and therefore can only scrape an average 3 star rating...not bad for a film with Leo in it of course but it's a little like watching an extended version of Wish You Were Here.
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