I appreciated and enjoyed it, even with its major flaw

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2000)

There is a lot to like here, even though there are some major flaws, too. At first I thought it starred Matt Damon, who is great, but in the lobby of the theater on the way in I saw it starred Leonardo DeWatchimacallit, who I dislike and distrust. So I was prepared to hate "The Beach," but was surprised at how very good it was. I was particularly impressed with Leonardo, who I had previously thought of as nothing more than a giggling trifle. He can act! And he can come off as a actual man, too, not just the foppish object of teeny-bopper desire. Good job, bud!
The first hour is powerful, mysterious, beautiful, and very engaging. The second hour is probably where the detractors were turned off. Admittedly, the conceptual material becomes really corny-- the type of obvious, belabored ideas about hedonism, love, character, etc. that one would expect from a precocious 19 year-old. I imagine that 35 years ago "The Beach" would have been a stunner-- and it would have been hailed as a gripping, bold view into the darker parts of the human heart. Now, the moral lessons and conclusions seem naive to the point of silliness. But wait! In spite of that, there is something about this movie that is immensely rewarding and entertaining. A vibe of pure power, and a vibrant life emanate from every scene. I can't explain it beyond that-- this movie has LIFE. And it is technically perfect, too. Visually amazing, well acted, well edited, etc. It's kind of the opposite of the recent movie "Snow Falling on Cedars," in which the scenery was rare and imposing (lots of snow on lots of cedars), but it was empty and sterile. As a movie it struck many folks as lifeless and dreary. "The Beach," by contrast, looks like a masterpiece, and feels like a great movie-- even though the story kind of falls apart towards the end. Often times flawed movies piss one off, but this movie won me over and had me appreciating it even as I was seeing the conclusion as amateurishly juvenile. Go figure?
I gave this flick an "8."