Read the novel, it's a lot better then the film

Rating: 4/10 (29 June 2010)

What could have gone wrong with The Beach? It was based on a popular, critically acclaimed novel, starred Leonardo Di Caprio, who was considered one of the world's biggest stars after Romeo + Juliet and Titanic and was directed by Danny Boyle who had won plaudits for Shallow Grave and the excellent Trainspotting. Well, many things, but at least Di Caprio and Boyle were able to bound back with great success.
Richard (Di Caprio) was an American traveller, landing in Bangkok, the starting point for many travellers going to South-East Asia. He goes to Thailand because he wants adventure and tries to avoid the usual tourist route. On his first day a mad Scotsman, Daffy Duck (Robert Carlyle), kills himself and leaves him a map to a small island with a legendary beach and lagoon. Richard befriends a young French couple, FranÃ§oise (Virginie Ledoyen) and Ã‰tienne (Guillaume Canet) and the two make their way onto the island. After a dangerous journey the three discover a commune of travellers, including the leader Sal (Tilda Swinton), her boyfriend Bugs (Lars Arentz-Hansen) and Keaty (Paterson Joseph), a Christian and a cricket fanatic. Life on the beach seems perfect, there is work to do but plenty of time to relax and to Richard it was what he wanted, a place away from the usual traveller crowd. But there are threats, the cannabis farmers who control the rest of the island, shark attacks whilst fishing and Richard's secret of giving the map to two surfers, Sammy and Zeph (Jerry Swindall and Peter Youngblood Hills). But Richard got what he wanted: adventure.
The main problem was that The Beach was too disloyal to original novel. There are minor things that were agreeable, like changing Richard's and Sal's appearance, maybe changing Sal from American to British. But most others did not work. One of the main things that affected the film was changing Richard from being English into an American and well the film suffers because of it. Some scenes like when Richard meets the surfers loose their impact, mainly because in the book the surfers pretend to be a stupid clichÃ© and both are actually very smart, but in the film they are both well, a stupid clichÃ©. We don't get to see how Richard's mind ticks, like his obsession with Vietnam war movies, he personal reasons for travelling and his dreams with Daffy. Other elements that ruined the film include cutting the character Jed from the novel, who was an important character, befriending Richard and acts at the beach's protector and an outsider to the community. Even if the character had to be cut his characteristics could have been implanted into someone else like Keaty. The film also skips over other story elements that drive the plot, like the food poisoning and how that led to a conflict between two camps within the community.
Acting wise the film does have some decent performances, like from the French actors Canat and Ledoyen and Swinton (who is normally a good actress). But it was Joseph who was the best of the cast, having excellent comic timing, even if his character was changed. But for Di Caprio this was one of his weakest performances. He was sadly quite wooden in the role and he just shouted a lot. We did not get to truly see why Richard was so excited about the prospect of adventure and it just felt hollowing, going through the motions. The actors who played the surfers were also noteworthy for weak performances.
The novel was very organic in its plotting, feeling real, even at times it did feel a little slow. But in the screenplay and the director the film felt like it wanted to rush through everything, taking away some of the natural nature of the book. A great example of this was how Richard invited Ã‰tienne and FranÃ§oise on the trips and their basic plans: there was no realism behind it.
There are some positives to the film. Boyle was able to add a little style into the film with some camera and editing tricks, like the camera going back quickly to reveal the waterfall and there are moments of tension and action with the cannabis farmers. Boyle also got the sense of the beach's hypnotic affects, making people forget about the outside word. There are also moments of comedy like when Keaty explains the rules of cricket. Boyle get the sense of what makes some travellers think, wanting to explore, party and partake in the local culture. It shows that Thailand has become very Westernised and that travellers are looking for the next big place before it is discovered and flooded by Westerners. I feel the same, I go on holiday to avoid English-people and I want to experience the local culture. Plus there is a good soundtrack, with the only good song by Moby as the signature track of the film. And there is some excellent cinematography and beautiful scenery throughout the film.
At Di Caprio was able to make Catch Me if You Can and Gangs of New York to kickstart his career after two flops (The Beach and The Man in the Iron Man). Boyle also somehow made friends with Alex Garland, the author of The Beach (which is very surprising) and two were able make 28 Days Later and Sunshine. So The Beach was not all doom and groom.