After watching The Beach, there was
no doubt that Danny Boyle, the remarkable young Brit who made one of the most in-your-face
movies of the 90s, Trainspotting, sold his soul to the Hollywood devil. His uncompromising
debut is far ahead of this star-vehicle, designed to promote the Titanic-sized sex-appeal
of Leonardo DiCaprio. It is clear from the beginning who is the marshall of this parade.
Leonardo is
Richard, an American expatriate wandering around Thailand, with no particular place to go.
In a hotel, he meets a French couple, Francoise and Etienne, but it is weird and clearly
deranged Daffy that rocks his world by telling him a story about a different world. Daffy
explains and provides a map to a tropical island, and a beach on that island, whose beauty
is matched only by secrecy that surrounds it. Richard and the French reach the island,
only to find that it contains two quite different worlds living in a bizarre symbiosis;
the marijuana farmers, armed with automatic rifles, guarding a field of cannabis and the
hippy-style commune that lives on the secluded beach, sheltering the secret of its
paradise.
Which is
all good, but it is when Richard overpowers the young shark that we start doubting the
sincerity of The Beach. He becomes a super-hero, and no female is capable of resisting
him, as he beds Francoise (not quite following the book on which the movie is based on)
and the head of the commune, Sal, who is in denial thinking that she only used Richard to
satisfied a need. His position in the commune will start to deteriorate, and reach a new
low with discovery of a copy of Daffy’s map Richard made for some nerdy friends of
his in Bangkok. Sal forces him to spend days in isolation, which affects his sanity and
leads to the tragic outcome.
DiCaprio is
a very underrated actor, and he carries the weight of the movie on his shoulders with
ease. He’s a truly magnetic figure, and it was completely unnecessary to further
emphasize his sexual prowess and his leadership skills in the movie. The movie dissolves
in the second half, trying to portray Richard’s delusions, and the conclusion of the
story makes little sense. Since most of the bon-vivants of the commune get away with some
of the decisions they made, it is unclear what the message of the movie is, as much as it
is unclear how on Earth the drug warlords tolerated a liberal community of youngsters from
around the world within walking distance of their precious cannabis field. The scenery, as
expected, is truly breathtaking, and the numerous troubles the crew had while filming in
Thailand obviously paid off at least on that level. Overall, however, the movie
disappoints, as we all know that both DiCaprio and Boyle are capable of much better
efforts.