Review of The Beach (2000) by Heart C — 06 Mar 2011

I saw this movie in theaters and was hoping I was too young to really appreciate it at the time. As I re-watched it today, I realized there was very little else I was able to take from it upon the second viewing.

Many movies I watch seem pretentious, as if they are trying to hard. This is not the case with "The Beach." The film touches on some great concepts such as society, isolation, sanity, youth/immaturity, and how far people will go for so called paradise.

Unfortunately, Danny Boyle does not go far enough with these themes to ever make a clear, strong, or unique assertion. DiCaprio's casting (by the studio) was self-centered and his performance is wet behind the ears (pun intended) but it works for the character.

Overall, this is more of a flick you sit through purely for entertainment rather than an insightful piece of cinema I usually expect from Boyle. I give it 2 stars not because it was horrible, but because it could have and should have been so much more.