We were especially surprised by Leonardo DiCaprio’s involvement. Although, he is in many ways perfect for a coming-of-age story about a thrill seeking traveler, the last thing Leo needs at this point in his career is another dud. The Beach is neither a strong enough movie to carry him through, nor is Leo’s role of Richard the kind of role that challenges his talent. Leo might have proven that he can act in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, but he has since shown little dedication to nurturing his craft. In the Beach, the emotional depth he expresses in a few scenes seems too extreme a contrast to the performance of other actors and, therefore, its impact is deflated. Still, Leo cannot be blamed for what the Beach could not become.

The only redeeming values in this movie emerge through the cinematography of the exotic locales and a hint of the message that even paradise on Earth isn’t free of human possessiveness, jealousy, and destruction. Human beings seems to be cursed with the drive to escape to paradise because they inevitably bring with them and ultimately perpetuate the exact same evils they are running away from. Paradise is eventually only as good as the most corrupted person in it.

Leo’s character Richard is a restless American searching for adventure in Thailand. He is given a map to a secret paradise island, and he and a French couple travel to find it. When they finally get to the most perfect beach in the world, they find that paradise is already claimed by the commune of Westerners who rejected the corruption of the modern world in order to live an idyllic life in the blissful isolation. The matriarchal leader of the group, Sal, creates and dispenses strict rules, decisions, and punishment, which are ultimately geared at preserving the secrecy of the place and their life there. The price for keeping the secret and the punishment for breaking it end up being much higher than everyone is willing to pay.

Once Richard and his friends make it to the island, the story branches out in several directions and struggles to find sufficient character conflict to fuel the movie’s feeble message. One minute, Richard is steeling his French friend’s girlfriend, the next, he is whisked away on a supply buying trip with Sal, the next, he is enacting a strange commando video-game with the machine gun carrying marijuana farmers. Instead of deriving its punch from the one-on-one conflict between Richard and the dogmatic Sal, the story relies on boring narration, which takes away the little thrill and insight the movie manages to develop.

The juxtaposition of the pure surroundings and the gradual revelation of horrific human nature as both Sal and Richard degrade into obsession shows how no place is far enough away, or pure enough, or beautiful enough to forever hide human flaws. The desperate hold on an ideal lifestyle, and the mood making that masks selfishness and possessiveness with sweet delusion, must eventually erupt into tragedy. Unfortunately, even the impact of tragedy that emerges with full force from the character conflicts is stripped of its power by the meaningless cute ending.