THE BEACH

"The Beach," Leonardo DiCaprio’s long awaited follow-up to "Titanic," is finally here. Thankfully - Leo delivers. The producers may be banking on his star power to bring in the bucks, but its the vision of its writer/director team of John Hodge and Danny Boyle that still prevails - somewhat. On an abstract level, "The Beach" dramatizes the same obsession found in the two films that cemented their reputation - the cult favorite, "Shallow Grave" and the international hit, "Trainspotting." Both deal with a quest to escape the drudgery of everyday life. A trio of friends hope to find it with a cache of stolen money in the former and a group of working class knockabouts do it through the drug life in the latter. Greed, addiction, and betrayal destroys friendships and lives, and survival instincts replace civility. "The Beach" crystallizes these ideas through one man’s search for a paradise that exists, however briefly, in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, the raison d’etre for the seeker is never as clear cut as, for instance, the Ewan McGregor characters in the other pictures. The situations that arise half way through the movie seem implausible because of it. Yet, it’s Dicaprio’s earnest performance that gets "The Beach" over the rough spots.

"The Beach" starts off with a snappy narration by Richard (DiCaprio), an American tourist in Thailand searching for something different, not knowing what it is but sure he’ll recognize it when he sees it. He is awash in a city of garish images and moral decay in a flea market of sex and drugs. Richard finally succumbs to a huckster in a tourist rite-of- passage by watching the slaughter of a snake and drinking its blood. The bizarre ritual has the aura of a fraternity hell night. Disappointment leads him to a seedy hotel with thin walls and chicken wire vents that fail to quiet the drunken mad man in the next room who more than lives up to his name - Daffy, played by the scene stealing Robert Carlyle. He has a map and a tale about a perfect beach unreachable by land and untainted by civilization. It could be just what Richard has been looking for!

Of course Paradise is never what it’s cracked up to be. Richard finds two friends, the beach, a marijuana plantation guarded by gun toting ‘farmers,’ and a commune with some rites of passage of their own. They are dedicated to keeping their island paradise a secret. Most are willing to pay dearly, others are not. So when is paradise not a paradise? That’s for them to know and Richard to find out. Richard’s sense of wonder is chipped away by sexual rivalries, power struggles, and imagined threats from the mainland. He betrays their trust because he doesn’t trust them, especially their leader, Sal, who has her own secrets, about her background, her motives, and Daffy. Richard is cast off from the group to commit an act of bloodlust to secure their secret or suffer the consequences. He imagines his survival as part of a stunningly filmed video game. He sneaks up on the enemy in the middle of the night and harangues them in the day to placate his tormentors. In a sense he is still just a tourist taking part in another ritual without the necessary skills to survive - he cannot kill. Others must do it for him. Either you buy this set up, or you don’t. I didn’t. It seems logical but doesn’t play well on screen. This is the weak link in the chain that transforms Richard from a wannabe Robinson Crusoe to Lord Jim, at least in the guilt department. Once again, DiCaprio invests so much in the character of Richard it’s easy to forgive and forget.

"The Beach" still offers a refreshing change of pace with some thought provoking moments about the nature of man and his ongoing need to control his physical and social environment.

Copyright 2000

"This Boy’s Life" (1993) Forget "Titanic." This is Leo’s best role to date. DiCaprio plays the real life author Tobias Wolf as teen who goes head to head with his abusive step father in the late fifties. Ellen Barkin plays the mother who’s trying to make a go of it with her new husband played to frightening perfection by Robert DeNiro.

"What’s Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993) Leo was nominated for an Oscar for playing Johnny Depp’s retarded brother, in a dead end town. This is a poor man’s "The Last Picture Show" but the performances are excellent. Directed by Lasse Hallestrom who helmed "The Cider House Rules."

"Shallow Grave" (1994) Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, and Kerry Fox are three friends who take in a boarder, who dies, leaving them with a small fortune in drug money. Neo-noir at its best. The dream of indolence goes up in smoke when the dead man’s contact shows up and greed movies in. A great thriller!

"Trainspotting" (1996) The drug life in Scotland seen through the eyes of Ewan McGregor who seems like an outsider among his own peers, much like DiCaprio’s Richard in "The Beach." This is alternately surreal, sad, and disturbingly funny. Also with Robert Carlye and Johnny Lee Miller.