Lord of the Flies meets The Blue Lagoon. This is what I thought as I walked into
the theater with hesitation to watch this movie. Luckily, I could not have been more correct. The
odd combination of the two films actually brings about a rather interesting movie. There isn�t
really a deep story, an American in Thailand rounds up to French kids to follow a map given to
him by a drug addict to a mythological beach, but the film is nonetheless entertaining. The
director of such cult classics as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave brings his trademark
directing skills to this loose adaptation of the Alex Garland book, and thankfully so. I doubt
anyone else could have made this movie any better. Danny Boyle is a remarkable director despite a
few misses (anyone else remember A Life Less Ordinary?), not to his fault. With the
beautiful exotic locale and the group of very talented young actors (even though I�m not
particularly fond of Leonardo DiCaprio, I must say he did a great job), we are given another
Boyle-esque wonder. The Beach may at first just seem like the next film to cash-in on the
DiCaprio wave, and in a way it is, but in my own personal opinion, this is truly Danny Boyle�s
film, a bit of a dark story with just the right touches of humor. Forget the fact that the
previews make this movie look like a disappointment, it is actually worth a viewing, even if just
for a matinee show! B!
