Flawed, But Better than the Hate Suggests

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2016)

For starters it is a Danny Boyle film and that goes a long way, he is a great director...but Leo, oh Leo, you were miscast. That role was supposed to go to Ewan McGregor and had it kept the intended actor, it would have been a much different beast, and one far closer to the novel.
Recasting Richard as an American, was in some cases, the biggest mistake. The insights he is supposed to deliver are more fragmented and make less sense coming from someone that isn't as close to Europe and the opportunities to experience the different cultures on a more regular basis.
The book itself is about a traveler and American's hardly do that. Gen-X might, but that is about all, one Generation of hopeless wanderers since the Beat Movement.
Still, despite the flaw it stands as a nice re-imagining, as a solid updated version of Thomas More's "Utopia." The monastery has been replaced with the commune. God with marijuana. The written correspondence with the internal monologue of a flawed protagonist. But the theme is the same. Utopia is no place. Void. It does not exist.
And the movie does a good job of capturing the hope of a Utopian offer and then revealing the truth behind that veil.
Had the casting been right, and not to say that DiCaprio isn't a great actor in his own right, but had the role of Richard been filled with the actor best suited for it, the film would have worked on a fundamentally brilliant level on par with Garland's source material.
Still, DiCaprio is a competent actor and he did his best despite the fact the role was wrong for him. The faults are small, but for some not easily over looked.