Review of Beach, The

Introduction

The basic plot of this movie is that a young backpacker, Richard, travels to Thailand in search of something…and he finds it on this secret Beach, a place that seems like paradise on earth. And for a while it is. But after a while, this paradise turns sour…

‘The Beach’ arrived massively hyped: starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Richard and made by the producers of ‘Trainspotting’, and with the book already being the novel of this generation, you would have expected it to be a massive success. But in the end, whilst still a good movie, it ended up not living up to what it could have been.

Now, I am a massive fan of the book, and so apologies if you’re reading this review but haven’t read Alex Garland’s cult writing phenomenon. The first 30 mins or so of the film is excellent filmmaking – witty, funny, and addictive. And this is mainly because it stays faithful to the original text. However, after that John Hodge, screenwriter of ‘Trainspotting’, makes a hamfisted job of adapting for screen. This deviation from the book shows as the story begins to lose some of its magic, and then finishing rather disappointingly. I, like many other fans, consider Hodge’s omission of a major character and several crucial plot changes to be almost sacrilegious. He has twisted Richard into a darker, almost amoral creature, and in addition tends to make little in-joke references to the book which go unexplained, making the movie confused and almost pretentious in the second half. He has also concocted a full-blown romance out of the original unrequited love story – a major change in the whole point of the movie. The narration is disappointing, as in the book it is a stunning piece of prose. Perhaps the worse thing is that Hodge has done is that some people might really dislike this movie and blame it on the book, when in fact it is due to the poor adaptation of it instead. Some might find the ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘The Deerhunter’ references overdone and regard it as a rip-off.

But other than the screenwriter’s butchery of the novel, this is definitely worth watching. Danny Boyle directs with flair and DiCaprio is good for the most part. Personally I would have preferred Brit Ewan McGregor (still young enough, I think) to play the flawed hero Richard, but DiCaprio is probably the superstar that the studio’s wanted. The rest of the cast is excellent, almost perfect. The French couple of Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet are particularly good. And the cinematography is wonderful, with some breathtaking visions of paradise caught on camera.

Video

The picture, both anamorphic and widescreen, is excellent. It handles the darker moments well, and the more colourful moments of the Beach really look like paradise. The colours are bright and there is excellent detail throughout the film. As far as I can see, flawless.

Audio

This is a very good 5.1 mix, with clear dialogue and well-handled bass when needed. Nothing to complain about here.

Features

A very decent set of extras is provided. The commentary by director Boyle is informative and interesting, telling us a lot about some of the amazing scenery and shots used on camera. However, the unadvertised featurette is a poor one lasting almost five minutes. If there were a full-blown documentary on behind-the-scenes then this disc would have a truly excellent set of extras. Unfortunately the commentary can only compensate for what the featurette should have been: a real insight into the making of the movie.

There are also nine deleted scenes with optional commentary, all of which are interesting. It’s a shame however that Fox felt the need to stamp their ownership all over them, as if someone might re-cut a new movie with them. There is also a complete storyboard gallery, a whole host of TV spots and trailers (with a very dark atmosphere to them, I notice) and a music video of the excellent ‘Pure Shores’ by All Saints.

Conclusion

Basically, if you haven’t read the book, you should enjoy this film, if you can follow what is trying to be said. If you have read the book, then this is a must-see, if only because it offers a few glimpses of the movie it could have been. I really believe that the novel could have been turned into one of the greatest movies ever, if done correctly. If it takes 3 hours to tell a story, then so be it. In his commentary, Boyle himself admits that many ideas weren’t followed through. He even says that a 3-hour cut existed at one point (maybe a Director’s Cut in the future?) and that he was also under commercial pressure. But in the end, just like the Richard himself, we are left with a few fleeting moments of what could have been.