WhatzUp

The Beach
by Derek Neff

Based on the bestselling novel by Alex Garland, The Beach concerns a group of young people searching for the exotic and paradisiacal while still craving the video games and fast food culture of their homeland. Yearning to experience paradise first-hand, Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) follows a handwritten map to a secret lagoon on a remote island off the coast of Thailand. A small, intensely private society of westerners already lives there, and the rest of the movie pivots around the endangerment to this society by the existence of another copy of the map somewhere in the tourist bustle of Thailand.

DiCaprio is perfect as Richard: his gangly boy-next-door looks, his Everymanąs sense of awe and his easily provoked temper all lend him the appearance of a boy who has just reached adulthood seconds ago.

Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) sometimes seems as confused as the characters in his movie; his exotic locale and often innovative touches are frequently undercut by his ho-hum MTV sensibilities. Still, the story advances at a swift pace, and I was intrigued by the way that The Beach suggests that the desire to find a paradise unsullied by modern society can sometimes inspire the very violence, cruelty and fear from which one was hoping to escape in the first place.