Vicenarian Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss. Excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.
Director:
Ridley Scott
Stars:
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Russell Crowe,
Mark Strong
After his father's death, Gilbert has to care for his mentally-disabled brother, Arnie, and his morbidly obese mother. This situation is suddenly challenged though, when love unexpectedly walks into his life.
Director:
Lasse Hallström
Stars:
Johnny Depp,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Juliette Lewis
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.
Director:
Sam Mendes
Stars:
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Kate Winslet,
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Garland's novel centers on a young nicotine-addicted traveler named Richard, an avid pop-culture buff with a particular love for video games and Vietnam War movies. While at a hotel in Bangkok, he finds a map left by his strange, whacked-out neighbor, who just committed suicide. The map supposedly leads to a legendary island paradise where some other wayward souls have settled.Written by
Mike Arndt <clayton@hooked.net>
Ewan McGregor was Danny Boyle's first choice to play the part of Richard. The studio wanted Leonardo DiCaprio and cast him before Boyle could intervene. While McGregor blamed the studio, he did not speak with Boyle for many years, and admitted in an interview that he felt betrayed at the time. Happily, in 2015, McGregor and Boyle made amends and are now on good terms. See more »
Goofs
The handwriting on the virtual postcard near the end of the movie changes style between wide shots and close-ups. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Richard:
My name is Richard. So what else do you need to know? Stuff about my family, or where I'm from? None of that matters. Not once you cross the ocean and cut yourself loose, looking for something more beautiful, something more exciting and yes, I admit, something more dangerous. So after eighteen hours in the back of an airplane, three dumb movies, two plastic meals, six beers and absolutely no sleep, I finally touch down; in Bangkok.
See more »
Alternate Versions
This film had some differences from the novel that wasn't seen in the film:
Richard's obsession with war and video games is explained a bit more in the novel.
Keaty is not obsessed with his Game Boy in the film.
Richard never sleeps with Françoise despite having feelings for her, which he thinks are reciprocated, saying that he considers Étienne a good guy and would not want to do that to him.
Richard never sleeps with Sal, nor is it Sal who accompanies him to the mainland for supplies, but rather a character called Jed (who patrols the island's perimeter) who does not appear in the film. In the book, Jed is the person who leads Richard, Etienne, and Françoise to the community, not Keaty.
Ella (who works for Unhygienix), Jean (the leader of the gardening detail), Cassie (who works for Bugs), Jesse (who works in the gardening detail), Moshe (the head of the second fishing detail), and the two unnamed Yugoslavian girls (who work for Moshe) do not appear in the film.
The part where Keaty catches a dead squid that gives some of the island's inhabitants food poisoning is not in the film.
Karl escaping from the island in the beach community's main boat was not in the film.
The ending is different from the book's, which had Richard, Françoise, Étienne, Keaty, and Jed attempting to escape from the now crumbling community. In the book's epilogue after their successful escape, they move into their respective lives. Richard loses touch with Étienne and Françoise yet finds it hard to be totally freed of the effects of his experiences in that "parallel universe."
Richard never received an e-mail from Françoise with a picture after their farewell.
Recently a friend of mine watched "The Beach" after I told him my favorite quote (i.e. "Never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never cease to be polite, and never outstay your welcome"). He enjoyed the movie a whole lot and told me he hadn't watched it before because of it's low IMDb rating. That's when I decided to register here and post a comment - I hope I help someone else to watch the movie because it is worth a watch. What I personally like so much about this movie is that it is not just plain vanilla. It actually makes sense and can be a starting point for new thoughts and ideas - something I truly appreciate in a movie.
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Recently a friend of mine watched "The Beach" after I told him my favorite quote (i.e. "Never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never cease to be polite, and never outstay your welcome"). He enjoyed the movie a whole lot and told me he hadn't watched it before because of it's low IMDb rating. That's when I decided to register here and post a comment - I hope I help someone else to watch the movie because it is worth a watch. What I personally like so much about this movie is that it is not just plain vanilla. It actually makes sense and can be a starting point for new thoughts and ideas - something I truly appreciate in a movie.