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Movies / On DVD / The Beach
The Beach

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The Beach (2000)

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Reviews Counted:114

Fresh:22

Rotten:92

Average Rating:4.4/10

Consensus: Critics say The Beach is unfocused and muddled, a shallow adaptation of the novel it is based on. Points go to the gorgeous cinematography, though.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Richard (DiCaprio) is a typical twenty-something American whose head is filled with an absurd amount of pop-culture and video game references. While travelling in Thailand in order to broaden his... Richard (DiCaprio) is a typical twenty-something American whose head is filled with an absurd amount of pop-culture and video game references. While travelling in Thailand in order to broaden his horizons and gain some real world experience, he meets Daffy (Carlyle), a crazy Englishman who gives Richard a mysterious map before committing suicide. Apparently the map leads to an idyllic island where the inhabitants live in a natural paradise. Intrigued, Richard convinces two French acquaintances, Francoise and Etienne (Ledoyen and Canet), to journey with him and see if Daffy was right. Upon reaching the island, Richard discovers that it does, in fact, appear to be the dream that Daffy had promised. They meet Sal (Swinton), a strong-willed woman and leader of the group. Sal has made a pact with the weapon-wielding drug dealers who control the island that her group can remain there provided no new bodies arrive. Richard has a brief tryst with Francoise, but she abandons him when she discovers that he has had another sexual encounter while gathering supplies from the mainland. And when two drugged-out Americans show up and crash the party, Richard's newfound Utopia is threatened once and for all. [More]

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet, Robert Carlyle, Paterson Joseph, Jerry Swindall, Peter Youngblood Hills, Lars Arentz Hansen, Staffan Kihlbom, Magnus Lindgren, Victoria Smurfit

Director: Danny Boyle

Director: Danny Boyle
Screenwriter: John Hodge
Producer: Andrew MacDonald
Composer: Angelo Badalamenti

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jul 25, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Beach

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Leo spazzes out like a frat boy at every opportunity, and his later descent into madness looks more like a descent into the world's worst Martin Sheen impression.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

While it thumped along, I had plenty of time to ponder the other and better movies that it reminded me of.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/23/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The Beach needed a director, because it's a little tough to tell what Danny Boyle was doing all those months in Thailand.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/01/00
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The appeal of the new Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle The Beach can be summed up in one word: scenery.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Well paced, acted and filmed, always interesting, with only a few sticky moments and rough end.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

It doesn't really come off, but it's an admirably ambitious, and mostly very engaging, coming-of-age adventure that apes the spirit of Joseph Conrad.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/03/02
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The last 40 minutes aren't merely dissatisfying -- they're virtually unbearable.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The real downfall of the movie is that there's only so much meaningful interplay you can get out of a beachful of slackers and some tanning oil.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An utterly common and uninvolving amalgam of paradise photography, detached pop psychology and watered-down danger.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

...an epic for pipsqueaks.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
01/01/00
Tom Block
Tom Block
culturevulture.net

Less -than- gripping.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
01/01/00
Philip Booth
Philip Booth
Orlando Weekly

The second hour is an incomprehensible mess.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Brandon
Christopher Brandon
TNT's Rough Cut

In pitching for the mass market, Boyle's film has allowed itself to be rebranded as a Hollywood star vehicle, a cynical assemblage that is never more than the sum of its market-researched parts.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/02/02
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Sight and Sound

As many spiritual teachers have warned: if you do not want pain, don't only seek pleasure.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/13/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

It's Beach Blanket Bingo revisited, but with a Eurocast and more exotic locations.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film's story goes from decent to bad to awful.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Shay Casey
Shay Casey
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Settles down into something vaguely formulaic.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

The problem here is not acting. It is story.

Full Review Source: Norman Transcript | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jim Chastain
Jim Chastain
Norman Transcript

Murky, pretentious and torturously inert.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Beach is beautiful, everyone has a lovely tan. But it's nothing to write home about.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Beach

December 07, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Apocalypto" Is Bloody Good; "Blood Diamond" Needs Polish; "Unaccompanied" Is Minor; "Holiday" Is So-So
This week at the movies, we've got declining civilizations ("Apocalypto," directed by Mel Gibson), conflict diamonds ("Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo... More...

August 24, 2005: Danny Boyle's "Sun" Begins to Shine
Thanks to ComingSoon.net for sharing a press release from Fox Searchlight regarding Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" -- and the fact that it began shooting yesterday. More...

June 29, 2005: Leo Takes a Fancy to Zwick's "Diamond"
Director Ed Zwick ("Glory") and his frequent writing partner, Marshall Herskovitz, will bring "The Blood Diamond" to the big screen, and they're hoping to... More...

February 04, 2005: "Halo" Floating Toward the Big Screen
Microsoft is close to finalizing terms with writer Alex Garland to script a film based upon the "Halo" video games, Variety reports. The game is one of the most... More...

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