Marooned.

Rating: 5/10 (10 March 2012)

Director Danny Boyle has since admitted this wasn't a very good film. It takes strong character to own up to one's mistakes, so for this he must be applauded. Anfortunately, myself and many other people had the misfortune to see it before we knew even the director didn't believe in it. The beach was marketed as some sort of conventional thriller/drama which would be the next showcase for heart-throb Leonardo Dicaprio following his huge success with Titanic. Had its makers gone ahead and made a conventional thriller, it might have at least been a box office success. But the finished product is a confused, fantasy-ridden film that tries to be much more introspective than it needs to be. That it is narrated by a character that is neither interesting nor believable only adds to the problem.
Leo plays an American tourist who finds himself alone and bored in a grimy Thailand hotel. A nutty guy from the room next door gives him a map to an island supposedly home to a new-age community with an endless supply of pot at their disposal. Leo is immediately intrigued by this map. Especially once this nut-job commits suicide. He and a young French couple follow the map and end up swimming out to this island and joining the community which really does exist. Personally, I would have turned around and swam back to the mainland after meeting the insufferable Euro-types that make up this community. They are led by Tilda Swinton who plays the same character she always does. An icy, witchy woman. At least she almost looks attractive in this film for a change. She has a strong-armed boyfriend who is a complete jerk. The rest of the island is patrolled by armed marijuana farmers who allow the community to exist as long is it doesn't allow too many new members or gives away their secret. Leo ends up sleeping with the young French woman. Her boyfriend doesn't seem too broken up about it. Not much of interest really happens after that. A couple guys who look like ABBA rejects are attacked by a shark. Probably revenge for Leo killing another shark. We've all seen the Jaws films, and apparently sharks DO take things personally.
Ughh. Since the film is so unfocused, its hard to write anything other than a rambling review. By the last 45 minutes, director Boyle has grown pretty desperate. He throws in animated sequences, fantasy killing sprees, you name it. Nothing any of the characters does by this point makes any sense. Sure, the film looks great, but how could it not with these locations to shoot in? Decaprio has never really impressed as an actor, and he certainly didn't have what it took back then to make us believe in his character. Maybe it helps to smoke pot, and then any true meaning in this film would become clear. Or at least its lack of focus wouldn't matter so much. 5 of 10 stars.
The Hound.