Leo's First Post-Titanic Film

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2012)

For his first major project after the overwhelming success of Titanic, Leonardo Di Caprio took a risky path in this adaptation of Alex Garland's acclaimed novel and film directed by Danny Boyle in the movie called,The Beach.The film stars DiCaprio together with Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet. It was filmed on the Thai island Koh Phi Phi.
Richard is an American backpacking through Asia with a handful of friends from Europe. While in Bangkok, he meets a mad Scotsman who calls himself Daffy Duck. Shortly before Mr. Duck kills himself, he gives Richard a crude map to a place in Thailand that he claims is paradise on earth: beautiful, unspoiled, and uninhabited. For lack of anything better to do, Richard and his companions try to locate the spot, which, after a dangerous and taxing journey, takes them to a beach as beautiful as Duck said it would be. Richard and his friends settle in, but before long they discover that they are not alone; a large group of fellow travelers has already dug themselves in, and they have established a community with the same social evils that Richard was hoping to leave behind. Just as important, there is an army of natives who grow marijuana in the nearby hills and do not appreciate the presence of these visitors.
The Beach is unfocused and muddled.It was also a shallow adaptation of the novel it is based on. Only the gorgeous cinematography provides it great view. It simply gained commercial success due Leonardo Di Caprio's presence in his first post-Titanic film in a starring role.