Pretty good movie. Deserves a better rating here.

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2006)

Ignore the low rating here on IMDb. This movie is some decent and pretty looking entertainment. It's a movie were basically is very little wrong with. It's a movie made without any potential and in the long run it's a pretty good and entertaining enough movie.
It's very simple to say why this movie 'flopped'. Reason for this was Leonardo DiCaprio. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no Leo hater, that's not my point. My point is, you have to consider the fact that this movie was released in 2000, 3 years after his role in "Titanic". Most of the male audience couldn't stand DiCaprio after his sappy role in this movie but most girls loved him. That's why the guys didn't went to see "The Beach" when it was released and also females didn't went to see it because this is a totally different movie and role for DiCaprio. So it was the wrong timing or the casting, both are possibilities, which caused this movie to not be a very successful one at the box office and among critics because they were not at the time quite ready yet to see DiCaprio in a totally different role, even though in the past he already had played a wide diversity of roles.
Too bad because the movie really deserved a better faith. Granted that it's no masterpiece but than again it doesn't really try to be one. The story doesn't really try to go deep, even though they could had easily gone that way with it. Instead it's a movie with multiple layers in it that go in good into some certain issues handled in the movie. The movie tries to be as realistic as possible even though the story at times certainly isn't. A reason why "The Beach" is just a good movie and not a great one.
The movie is beautiful looking and has some nice settings. The directing is quite original at times which helps to give the movie its own unique feeling. Also the story helps to make this movie an original one and it's quite thought provoking at certain moments.
Leonardo DiCaprio shows with this movie once more that he is more than just a pretty face. He's a real talented actor and this movie truly shows his, by many yet undiscovered, talent. Robert Carlyle is also great in a fairly small but still important role. A nice surprise in the movie was Guillaume Canet. This is a great French actor, who mainly only makes French movies and already has been nominated twice for a César Award. (Let's say the French Oscar for French movies.)
A simple entertaining movie made without any potential. Would it had been released let's say 5 years later it would had received a better faith and a more wider audience. A perfectly watchable movie but of course by no means a must-see though.
7/10
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