Racist dope story without any sense

Rating: 1/10 (14 January 2000)

The press screening in Germany became a nightmare like some visit at the dentist's. Having been to Thailand six times in my life, I wondered how Danny Boyle would catch one of it's most beautiful sights, the island Phi Phi Leh. Not only did Boyle mix reminiscence to APOCALYPSE NOW (not even managing to quote it's moody fans correctly) and THE DEER HUNTER (the "Russian Roulette" scene, but this time with a childish and frightened DiCaprio), he also intertwined a video game with the protagonist running through a virtual jungle. This mix of styles was as empty as the whole plot. No Thai would allow dozens of foreigners to stay on their island for such a long time the way those dope-addicted hippies did. No shark would appear to bite them. No marijuana farmers would shoot them. The only restricted areas in Thailand that equal paradises are on military ground. All the suspense in THE BEACH is based on lies. So it comes as no surprise that the Thais are now blaming the film crew for having destroyed some natural surroundings of the island. Clear as one can see that neither the writer of the novel nor the filmmaker have any understanding of Thailand' true soul, they probably didn't even respect it's natural beauty. So this might be the only parallel to the filming of the masterpiece APOCALYPSE NOW: Wherever an American filmcrew invades, the place is changed to their needs. And they are mostly commercial.
Look for some characters (the French tourist, Swinton's boyfriend) and see their figures stuck in the story. Nothing develops. This movie is like a sketchbook and will not even work as a DiCaprio vehicle because most of the other male actors in the movie look better and more manly than him.