Our man in the Boondocks caught the early asian release of the new Leo flick THE BEACH while beating around in the bush. Soule our enterprizing explorer filed his report with Father Geek from Taipei and here it is for you all to debate... Ain't the NET wonderful...

Hey there, Aint-It-Cool. I am backpacking through Asia right now, and "The Beach" appears to be out here a week earlier than in the States, so I caught it tonight. I wrote a review, which I thought you might find interesting and possibly postable. If you use it, please call me Soule. Here you go:

I am currently travelling in Asia, (Hong Kong and Macau last week, Taipei this week, Bangkok next week), and I was surprised to notice that the latest Leonardo DiCaprio opus, "The Beach" was out here in theaters before it's out in the States. So, I caught it in a small theater in Taipei, and am able to say with pleasure that I quite liked it. Part of that might have to do with the fact that I am an American gallivanting around Asia myself at the moment, and the movie romanticizes such activities (more or less), but I also think it was a genuinely good film. It is also recognizably a film from the boys who brought us "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave", which means we get nice techno music, interesting stylistic touches (the shots of Leo as a character in a video game in his own head were particularly good), and not necessarily the most comprehensible narrative.

I am sure the film's storyline has leaked out by now, but I'll recap quickly without spoilers. Leo plays Richard, a young American backpacker in Thailand who is dissatisfied with the normal touristy activities, simply because they are too accessible to the hoi-polloi. He happens upon a map to a Beach (not just a beach, mind you), on an island where the average tourist can't go, because its location has been kept a secret by those few adventurous souls who have found it in the past. He goes there with a few French friends he picks up, meets the other backpackers living on the island, and adventures ensue.

First of all, Leo is very good in this movie. He successfully dispels any baggage being carried from "Titanic", and he doesn't look like a spindly child, as he did in some of his earlier roles. The Richard role is a tricky one - many things happen to this character, and although by the end I wasn't quite sure that he kept my sympathy, that's because of the way the role was written, not Leo's fault. Actually, seeing this flick made me think, again, that he wouldn't be half-bad as Luke Skywalker's dad.

I read the book this film was based on twice - it's a wonderful novel by Alex Garland, a British writer. So, when the story got a little wacky, as it does, I was able to follow easily because I knew what part of the book the filmmakers were trying to translate to the screen. However, I could see it being very confusing if a viewer hadn't read the book - indeed, my companion didn't know what the hell was going on in these sections (but that's not unusual - did we all completely follow "Trainspotting" the first time around, either?) Anyway, it all resolves in an interesting way, differently from the book - the denouement focuses on a single character instead of the general apocalypse the book portrayed, but the reasons for it are well-supported throughout the film. The VERY end of the film bites, though - it doesn't make much sense. The climax doesn't support a happy ending, but that's what we sort of get. It feels very tacked on.

Anyway, that's what I think - I certainly would say it's a worthy piece of work and not the throbbing misstep many previous reviewers have called it. I'm looking forward to hitting the beaches in Thailand next week even more than I was before.

Soule

See my own almost daily reports on all the Buzz at www.charles.soule.com/soulereport/