on the beach...

Rating: 3/10 (20 April 2003)

In the beginning of 2000, everyone waited impatiently, the release of the movie "the beach", mainly because Leonardo DiCaprio was in the main role. You thought that he was going to carry on with dignity, following the huge commercial and artistic success of "Titanic". But sadly, it's not the case. This movie that is a new variation of the lost paradise is a disappointment.
As far as I'm concerned, I saw the movie at the cinema when it was launched in February 2000 and I thought that it would focus only on DiCaprio, Ledoyen and Canet's efforts to discover this beach. Actually, my expectation was justified but it only lasts half an hour. When they discover the beach and they adhere to the community, I think the movie could have ended there. The second part (which starts with the three Swedish bitten by a shark) only plays the role of fill-in and spoils all the movie. Moreover, Danny Boyle eyes a bit too much towards the bloody.
Otherwise, to put it mildly is that the dialogs of "the beach" are few inspired sometimes silly and too convenient with the situations. Sometimes, the movie turns out to be too predictable: before the love affair between DiCaprio and Ledoyen, you guess that a love story will start between them. And, inevitably, it will cause Canet's jealousy but this jealousy will spread to Ledoyen she learns that DiCaprio had sex with Sal during their stay in Bangkok. Besides, the performance appears quite mixed: Ledoyen and Canet are paling into insignifiance next to DiCaprio. Another thing I noticed: DiCaprio' voice-off doesn't succeed in making the movie gripping as it was the case with Edward Norton in "Fight Club".
Then, let's admit it: the end of the movie seems too easy and conventional. You guess before the end that the perfect paradise doesn't exist on earth and certainly not in Thailand: there are sharks, it's not always shiny and Sal, the leader of the community reveals herself to be despotic and finally cruel. Let's add that the "paradise keepers" will do anything to protect their territory, even to kill...
Nevertheless, the movie enjoys a shiny photography that reflects brilliantly the color of the sea and the beach. Landscapes are magnificient and there's a good original soundtrack which includes Moby's porcelain. But these qualities aren't sufficient enough to save the movie. A disappointing and predictable movie and somewhere unfinished. You can blame Boyle for not revealing the reasons of Daffy's suicide.