Rating: 
Summary: Another sinker from Leo
Review: Not a lot going for this one. If it was the makers idea to show how dull and lifeless hedonism can be then, yes, they succeeded. No humour, no character - how can you enjoy a film when you can't connect with anyone in it? Some have enjoyed the scenery, but the only laugh I got was when Leo and co finally arrive and their eyes widen, they are dumb-struck, the camera tracks back and we see... a beach. Of the title. And then Leo goes loopy for no apparent reason, regains his senses equally mysteriously and everyone runs away. Thankfully, I hired this film and didn't buy it. On par with "The English Patient".
Rating: 
Summary: ??????????????????
Review: Does dicaprio want to just eliminate all of his fricking fans by taking part in junk like this? this movie could have been good actually great but it comes to dead hault when you start to like it and the film makers basically spit in your face for doing so. things get so boring they thought ,ohh hell lets through in a few shark attacks and that will generate suspense.one great thing about it is it looks fantastic! but it still blows in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Reviews????
Review: Yes...you did hear Leonardo Dicaprio, but does this one measure up to Titanic? Not so much. When I saw The Beach I had heard horrible reviews about it, but I watched it anyway. And surprise, I actually thought it was a decent movie. It kept me interested only until about the end where they failed miserably. (then again the endings these days aren't usually good) Watch it with an open mind and I think you'll enjoy it. Cheers!
Rating:
Summary: This 'Beach' needs to be washed away
Review: I had the misfortune to view this movie, and it stinks like a rotting seagull. A meandering mess of a flick, with no merits whatsoever, other than some nice scenery. Most ridiculous is the ending when DiCaprio is looking at a pic of him and his fellow beach dwellers after he returns to society, reminiscing about the happy times there. What he seems to have forgotten is that pretty much everyone on the beach hated him, and that he and he alone brought an end to their sandy utopia. Indeed he spends much of his time on the island alone in the woods going a bit loopy. A disappointing release from the director of 'Trainspotting', which is beginning to look more and more like a fluke given that he also made the terrible 'Life Less Ordinary'. Do yourself a favor and watch 'Lord Of The Flies' instead. Piggy's cracked glasses alone are more entertaining than this.
Rating:
Summary: not very gritty tale of survival
Review: Is this merely "Survivor" without the million-dollar payoff? Or is it a modern vision of James Hilton's most famous novel? For those too young to have any memories of "Lost Horizon," "The Beach" may seem like a wildly new and original work. And, as this is, essentially, a narcissistic youth fantasy starring teen-idol Leonardo Di Caprio, chances are that most of the film's audience will indeed be hovering somewhere near the puberty mark. Since the cast of characters is so youthful to begin with, the film is able to dispense with - or, at the most, treat obliquely - one of the major themes that runs through "Lost Horizon," that of the universal lure of Eternal Youth.Di Caprio stars as Richard, a young man so bored with the mundane rituals of modern civilized life that he journeys alone to Bangkok to partake of the exotic experiences a more primitive life has to offer. While there, he encounters a seeming madman who, right before his suicide, draws a map for Richard revealing the whereabouts of a small tropical island, guaranteed to be a Shangri-la for any person clever and daring enough to get there. Recruiting two of his hotel neighbors - a young French couple - to accompany him, Richard sets out to find his own private place in the sun. But life is never quite that simple and the three soon discover that the island is already inhabited by other jaded tourists who have set up a carefree, thriving community far away from both the amenities and problems of the modern world. This concept of discovering a secret, pristine and uncorrupted paradise has a timeless appeal and pull. And, as long as "The Beach" hews closely to this theme, it remains a reasonably interesting film, for who cannot identify at least partially with the lure of this idea? The tricky part for the filmmakers tackling this theme is to make this unlikely situation seem real and believable. Unfortunately, in the case of "The Beach," the people who comprise this out-of-the-way community seem, for the most part, way too agreeable and cooperative. This is like a Club Med resort without the room service. Survival here doesn't seem like much of a struggle and there rarely ever seems to be much in the way of intense disagreements and arguments amongst the group's members. We wonder, for instance, why, without monetary compensation or incentives of any kind for that matter, one man does all the cooking while another man does all the building. As far as we can tell, they do virtually all the work on the island while the others frolic on the beach playing volleyball all day. "Lost Horizon" was a certified fantasy - "The Beach" aspires to realism yet it needs a bit more grit to really achieve the truth it is after. Yes, grim reality does occasionally poke its ugly head into this insulated world from time to time in the form of man-eating sharks and gun-toting pot harvesters - but the characters themselves lack psychological depth and clarity. With rare exceptions, the people on the island seem to exist in a state of unlikely harmony, exhibiting little or none of the human conflict, personal jealousy or power politics one would reasonably expect to find in such a situation. Then when, late in the game, the film develops grand illusions of becoming a meaningful and grim look into the dark heart of madness, "The Beach" becomes both pretentious and laughable. This is particularly the case because Richard seems to drift in and out of madness with a dexterity that would leave Sigmund Freud himself speechless and dumbfounded. "The Beach" may well appeal to all those viewers who found the phony, pseudo-adventure theatrics of "Survivor" realistic and compelling. Indeed, the best part of the film is the ending when all these pathetic, craven softies from civilization, who fancy themselves rugged individualists, get their final comeuppance. Those of us who have long ago freely capitulated to the lure of all our assorted modern amenities happily get the last laugh.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: I must admit, when I first sat down to watch this I had extremely low expectations. However, I was very pleasently surprised by this film. Leo gives a good performance and is very convincing as an lone American tourist is a foreign land. Virginie Ledoyen is very underused, but still gives a credible performance. The cinematography by Darius Khondji alone makes this film worth seeing. The spectactular landscapes and locales of Thailand are captured with the right atmosphere. This movie is entertaining throughout except for the end where it falls apart pretty badly, but the first 3/4 are still very well done. I recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: A thought-Provoking and Visually Stunning Movie.
Review: I loved the story and the scenery of this movie. Leonardo DiCaprio put in a great performance as a young-american searching for an 'un-technological' experience in life while on vacation. The messege this movie leaves you with truth in it's meaning: Paradise isn't just some 'place' you try to seek in it's perfection...but is inside oneself. Has many messeges on many levels. An excellent movie to watch again and again. The music was also excellent. I definately recommend buying not only this movie, but also the soundtrack!
Rating:
Summary: This movie bites
Review: This movie bites. This movie is boring. This movie is stupid. Leo, you should have made a better choice of material. The French girl was pretty hot. That's it. I've already spent too much time on this imbecilic attempt at a film.
Rating:
Summary: So Bad It's Almost (Almost) Good
Review: I would not go so far as to say that "The Beach" is one of the worst releases of 2000, but obviously it's not one of the best. Unfamiliar with the book (and now I don't think I'd want to read it), I must examine the film. Surely females between 12 and 30 will flock to it because of Mr. DiCaprio; he does an okay acting job, but it's no Titanic. I will give the cinematographer credit; there are some beautifully photographed sequences, but as memory serves, another film set in "paradise," "Blue Lagoon," also had some great scenery and it was a turkey. As far as the plot, this film should be viewed by all those kids who want to take a year off from school to try to "find" themselves. There's no such thing as utopia, nowhere to go get stoned 24 hours a day for the rest of your life without consequences. So grow up.
Rating:
Summary: Hands down, DiCaprio's best work
Review: Picture this, a guy approaching twenty sitting on a plane trying to choose a movie to watch. One of his choices is 'The Beach', a film he's heard about but never really considered watching because he heard it was a 'chick flick'. Then he figures, it has to be better than a gay guy making out with Madonna. This is how it started for me. I started watching it a realized, Leo's more than a pretty face here. After Robert Carlyle's scene, I was hooked (plus Virginie Ledoyen looked really hot). When the credits started rolling I sat back in my chair and thought, wow, that movie rocked. DiCaprio has this strange way of picking all the right roles (He was quite impressive in Basketball Diaries and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Titanic was crap.) His character of Richard was very complex and difficult to play. A disturbed twenty-something looking for peace of mind, it doesn't get tougher than that. Besides Richard, my favorite charcter was Etienne. Canet's portrayal was picture perfect and his dedication to his Swedish friend was touching. Overall it was one of the best movies I've ever seen, even though I know many won't agree with me. I shows that there are always flaws, even in the perfect world. Oh, and one more thing, Robert Carlyle rocks!!!
|
