Falls within Top Ten Under-Rated Movies in History

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2008)

Last night, after a 9 hour day at work and another 4 hours studying and cleaning I decided to check out the On-Demand list of free movies. Nothing excited me, but I saw the title of "The Beach" and remember hearing some good reviews from friends. I also remember the critics ripping this movie to shreds, so I decided it would be appropriate for me to find out for myself. I was astonished at how great "the Beach" is, but I'm definitely not surprised at the discrepancy of opinions from person to person. This movie is not for everyone; it takes a certain type of mindset to get into the movie. For any ambitious person working hard to achieve the "American dream" this movie can come off as nonsensical, confusing, unrealistic, and meaningless. But any person with ambition for life, and exotic, unpredictable raw passion and pleasure this movie can serve chills and strike that person close to the roots. This movie is certainly made to enhance the viewers pleasure if under the influence of marijuana, but it is much more than a "stoner" movie. "The Beach" is an examination of the pull people feel from their more primitive side. As technology is vastly increasing and becoming more complex; people in the "real world" have a tendency to become submerged in the drive to succeed. The beach is the ultimate paradise, and one critique of the movie is that ultimately the paradise doesn't work in the end, I only wish somehow it could. This movie isn't perfect by any stretch, but overall as a movie I give it a B- grade. However, there are a few scenes in this movie that are as powerful as I've ever seen in cinema. The scene when the three newbies first see the beach, for example, is a very awesome sight. Another obvious strong scene is the night swimming sex scene. This scene was not only aesthetically incredible, but absolutely ripe with passion; so much that the viewer can almost feel "the haze of infatuation."
Overall the acting is both good and bad. Leo does a great job, which is to be expected from him, but some of the other actors fall short in a few scenes. A few parts of the movie are also rather corny, when Richard pretends to be in a video game, for example. The soundtrack literally could not be better, it's incredible.