...is best served during the icy cold winter days...

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2010)

The Beach (2000) has a bad name of some sort, not all seem to like it and many think it's a poor film based on a great novel. I disagree, I liked it. No, it's not perfect and the glorifying approach towards "backpackers" what once might've been the coolest thing ever feels cheesy and awkward a decade later, but the film still has some great things to offer.
The film manages to convey the relaxing though occasionally threatening atmosphere of the life in "paradise" quite nicely, Leonardo DiCaprio (Richard) does a good role in the lead, the film looks visually great and has some imaginative tricks in it's sleeve and the soundtrack fits the mood of the film very well.
That's the good, then the bad: the story isn't as engaging as you'd expect or hope - the story doesn't feel consistent and has some misteps along the way and doesn't seem to go anywhere in the end. The film starts out promisingly and constantly hints that something great is waiting around the corner but that never comes true; you feel mostly disappointed in the end. Not every performance from the cast convince either, especially Virginie Ledoyen (Francoise) and Guillaume Canet (Ètienne) were poor.
The Beach is best served during the icy cold winter days when the sun barely rises above the horizon - it takes your mind to somewhere warm and beautiful for a couple of hours, though it's story might not really charm you. 3/4