The Beach Reviews

I’m well aware of the fact that this movie has a rather lame reputation but, to be honest, it has always been one of my guilty pleasures. Indeed, I saw it again recently and, I have to admit it, it is not really that great and, probably out of sheer nostalgia, I tend to give it a little too much credit. Basically, it is probably the least regarded movie made by Danny Boyle but even though it is indeed flawed, I actually enjoyed it. The point is that, the first time I watched it, it was in the theater when it was released, I was just 20 years old, just like the main character and I was in the heyday of my weed smoking days, so, of course, as you can imagine, I completely identified myself with the protagonists. Seriously, I still think it was actually a pretty cool story but, indeed, the plot was a little bit uneven. In my opinion, many viewers dismissed this flick because it was one of the first movies DiCaprio did after 'Titanic' and, for many of us, it was still really hard to take him seriously at the time. It was also the first Hollywood production made by Danny Boyle (and the only one so far) so maybe it wasn't the best environment for him as he seemed rather creatively crippled. Still, even though it is definitely a mixed-bag and a critical flop when it was released, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Danny Boyle’s work.