mediocre

Rating: 5/10 (15 February 2000)

When I went to see "The Beach" I did so rather curiously than with high expectations, though it was the latest work of Boyle, Hodge and Macdonald. There were so many negative headlines surrounding the picture (the -according to the press- disastrous shootings in Thailand and Ewan McGregor going public with his disappointment about his friends jumping ship on him when they decided to give Leo the leading role), that I was just wondering if the film would reflect all this. First of all is the story basically interesting: the protagonists look for new excitement in their life and try to redeem themselves from the boredom of life in a society, which can't offer them new perspectives (a story element which had been described in Finchers "Fight Club" before). In the first half, "The Beach" is a decent film: you really get a sense for this alternative society and lifestyle thanks to Boyles understatement. Darius Khondjis cinematography is -as always- most impressive. The crux is the sudden change in the second part of the film: Since we haven't been given any clues before about the dark side of Richards character, this change in his personality and therefore the change in the tone of the picture comes the more unexpected and not plausible. There's a reference to "Apocalypse Now" but since the film leaves it to that, this storytwist simply doesn't work at all. I haven't read Garlands novel but since Hodge admitted to have shortened the plot (running time and so on..)I just suppose that the novel goes far more into details about Richard's innerlife and gives you a better preparation for what is to come. Moreover Boyles stylistic methods are inappropriate for the climax of the story: the video game references are ludicrous as basically the second part as a whole is strangely uninvolving. The result is a film, which -as "Fight Club"- starts off in style but then derails terribly in the end. Truly, you recognize it as Danny Boyles film and not as Fox's picture, but despite that I hope that the trio comes back to Britain and make again the good films they became famous for ("Shallow Grave" and in parts "Trainspotting").