Potentially Interesting Theme

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2000)

"I settled in and found my vocation--the pursuit of pleasure," shares Leonardo DiCaprio's Richard, shortly after arriving at his dream vacation spot: "the beach." The trouble with this thesis is it is ultmiately an unsatisfying goal. Vacations and parties must end sometime, and work begin.
As surely as human nature seems to require both projects and play in equal measure, life skewed toward recreation alone is bound to become a boring and unfulfilling existence. This state can lead to dire consequences and may even point the way toward tragedy. Novelist Alex Garland and writing assistant John Hodge try to depict this in a quite dramatic screenplay. Somewhere along the way, however, the essential theme got lost, and one may leave a viewing of "The Beach" wondering what was its actual purpose. Deleted scenes included in the DVD format surprisingly help to clarify some thematic features missing from the finished narrative. Likewise, key character profiles, like those of Robert Carlyle's Daffy gain better understanding through these cut scenes. As the writers' objectives seem basically sincere, it's too bad this narrative fails in its loftier expressive aims. Utlizing inherent creative urges appear an important aspect of our satisfaction, and that encompasses a good deal more than what "the beach" alone can ever provide. ###