Beach, The

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

An edgy, hypnotic entertainment that's like a Club Med production of "Lord of the Flies."

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Cinematographer Darius Khonji does a superb job of conveying both the sensual beauty (there's a spectacular moonlight-on-the-water sex scene with Leo and the lovely Ledoyen), and the darkness of Richard's paradise lost.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's a movie to feel. Even when the thinking isn't all there, the emotions are, all the way to the film's poignant last seconds.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It doesn't really come off, but it's an admirably ambitious, and mostly very engaging, coming-of-age adventure that apes the spirit of Joseph Conrad.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Whether he's smacking into an iceberg or flopping topless onto a sandy beach, DiCaprio is still maddeningly lightweight.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Always a joy to look at -- and even if the story isn't half as profound as the filmmakers think it is.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

DiCaprio is up to all but the heaviest emotional lifting; when he enters a maniacal phase, you wish for Martin Sheen, who did the "back to the jungle" thing better in "Apocalypse Now."

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

The theme (social breakdown in isolation) is strong, but the plot meanders, and the motivations are decidedly hazy, so its popularity probably stems from its seamless blending of naive wonder and soul-mining horror.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

As a book, The Beach offers the option of diving deep. As a movie, it sticks too close to the shoreline.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Colorful and exciting, as far as it goes. But Boyle and Hodge pull back on their usual wit and grit.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Tries to take us from heaven to hell but winds up leaving us in limbo: exasperated and dumfounded.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A seriously confused film that makes three or four passes at being a better one and doesn't complete any of them.

LA Weekly John Patterson

An intermittently gripping, good-looking movie.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Boyle's movie jettisons much of the telling detail; it has the shambling rhythm of a shaggy dog story and so simplifies the characters' ethical dilemmas that it's hard to care what they do.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As (DiCaprio's) character heads for The Beach's predictable heart of darkness denouement, only die-hard fans will have the heart to tag along.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Visually resplendent but dramatically uneven.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

There's only so much meaningful interplay you can get out of a beachful of slackers and some tanning oil.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's not that The Beach is a stinker, exactly. It's that nothing in it -- and that includes the gifted DiCaprio -- ever feels other than perfunctory.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Terrific looking in the extreme, The Beach is the movie equivalent of vacation reading: no more demanding -- and no less satisfying -- than a sandy paperback left on a damp towel.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The story is less original than its setting - it knocks off everything from "Lord of the Flies" to "The Blair Witch Project" -and its unromantic moods may make DiCaprio's countless "Titanic" fans want to swim in the opposite direction.

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

The titular beach really is stunning. But the second hour is an incomprehensible mess that's too dark for Leo's Teen People fanbase and too convenient for the arthouse crowd.

Newsweek David Ansen

Gorgeous but curiously weightless.

Film.com Robert Horton

The opening reels here promise something big, but the movie settles for a sour, predetermined funk -- "Lord of the Flies" as imagined by a Nintendo junkie.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Not a terrible movie, just an insubstantial one. All of DiCaprio's charisma and the director's savvy are used to divert us from the fact that there's not much going on.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Obvious in its observations, predictable in its conclusions, and a little dull in the telling.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's hobbled by odd plot contrivances and some less-than-stellar acting from DiCaprio.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

A narrative that tries to juggle thriller elements, tons of pop culture imagery, and way too much philosophical baggage.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Boyle's Beach lacks imagination and energy, two things that might have distracted us, at least occasionally, from the material's tepidness.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It's "Beach Blanket Bingo" revisited, but with a Eurocast and more exotic locations.

Mr. Showbiz Richard T. Jameson

The movie is an experience, of a sort they had a name for in the '60s: bummer.

Village Voice Amy Taubin

Barely a movie.

Slate David Edelstein

Monumentally unimaginative. Thumbs down!

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Relentlessly beautiful and wholly annoying.

USA Today Mike Clark

Murky, pretentious and torturously inert.