A clever story that has been mistreated and unfulfilled.

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2000)

Here it is girls, Leo's latest movie! That's about the only reason anyone would see this movie. I was bored and wanted something to do, and despite the fact that DiCaprio can make millions merely because of his "heartthrob" status quo, he's not a bad actor. In fact, he's quite good, and he does a good job with this film. The story is quite original, based on the novel by Alex Garland, about a secret island that is paradise. The photography is great, with sweeping visions of the island, the ocean, and even the segments with "excess imagery" look good. However, I couldn't help but be disappointed at how the material was treated and pulled off. Some of the scenes waste time, while still others that are intended to be serious come across as downright laughable(aka. the scene where a digitized DiCaprio runs through a video game environment). I also didn't like the fact that much of the story didn't come across, thanks to the over-abundant use of excess imagery. Plus, Leonardo's character suddenly and drastically changes into some sort of "more than a man or animal" personality. I still thought the source material was clever and original, but it was mistreated and misused here. I think that a director like Terrence Malick would've faired better, not that director Danny Boyle is a bad director. I just don't think that he's meant to direct a film like this. As for Leo, he does what he can with a nearly complete script and I wonder how he feels about the scene where he's digitized in a video game environment. All I know is that everyone in the theater laughed out loud at it.