*** Dumb but atmospheric

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2001)

Another film that took a beating from the critics but wasn't really all that bad. It has gorgeous cinematography of exotic locations and has what is probably the best soundtrack for a film that I have ever owned. What it has going against it is a cast of sniveling little teenagers who think that acting like hippies and smoking reefer on a beach that never ends is the equivalent to living a free-spirited life away from the concerns of a terrifying modern world. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a young twenty-something with nowhere to go in life who while on vacation in Thailand hooks up with two French tourists (Guillaume Canet, Virginie Ledoyen) and together they follow a treasure map given to him by the crazed man in the next hotel room (cameo by Robert Carlyle). Where the map takes them is a pure, gorgeous stretch of beach inhabited by the aforementioned hedonists who watched too many Brady Bunch episodes as children and just can't let them go. Since the destruction of this paradise is obvious from the beginning, every cast member's surprise at how things turn out is really annoying. Leo does alright though, and Virginie Ledoyen is quite lovely, but the standout in the cast is British actress Tilda Swinton, here starring in one of her first major studio films. Unfortunately for this film's box-office failure, it will be a while before mainstream American audiences get to know her, but I'm sure with her immense talent and beauty it will happen soon.