Good for the right audience

Rating: 7/10 (12 March 2008)

It seems that The Beach receives extremely poor ratings, and perhaps with good reason. Leonardo DiCaprio may not be the ideal man for this leading role - in the original novel, Richard is English - but his performance is of an above average standard. While on the subject of acting, perhaps I may mention one of Tilda Swinton's worse roles. It's not that she is bad in The Beach, but she's not great either.
As a fan of Alex Garland's original novel, I find this film to be extremely Hollywood-engineered: An English lead character? A story without a sex scene? Where's the fun in that?! Still, even if like me, you're a fan of the source material, The Beach can still be a fun trip.
The story has a very escapist feel to it, and the narrative on-the-whole keeps us empathising with an increasingly disturbed Richard. Add to this a top electronic soundtrack that appeals to the characters (as well as the audience!) and you find that The Beach is not as bad as you may have been warned.