Another Dude in Paradise

It was sin that cost humans paradise, and it's generally understood that the path back has high spiritual costs. In "The Beach," the movie made from Alex Garland's best-selling novel of the same name, Leonardo DiCaprio (himself heaven on earth to legions of teenage girls), portrays Richard, a soulless American who wants his transgressions and his paradise too. And like Richard, the movie seems to want it all: to be both a moral Rough Guide for Generation X and a Hollywood blockbuster.

In his first major role since "Titanic," DiCaprio plays a young backpacker with a GameBoy fetish who goes to Bangkok in search of thrills. No sooner does he slam back his first snake-blood kamikaze shot than he meets the drug-addled, aptly named Daffy, a fellow adventurer ranting about a perfect beach. Shortly afterward, Daffy (Robert Carlyle) kills himself, but not before tacking a crude pirate's map to the door of Richard's tatty hotel room. The map directs Richard to an idyllic Thai island, where a group of mostly European beach bums have set up a secret commune.

As earthly paradises go, this one is a definite contender: filmed on Thailand's Phi Phi Le, a small island near Phuket, the landscaped is filled with yellow orchids, ferns, and exotic palms. And yet the filmmakers couldn't stop themselves from making cosmetic improvements. They bulldozed the island's beach, stripped away native grasses and planted non-native coconut trees. The resulting controversy has inadvertently reinforced the movie's message that paradise is largely an illusion, and that ultimately we are responsible for our actions.

But let's follow Richard's lead, cast aside our moral reservations, and take in the stunning scene: The beach in question is a turquoise lagoon surrounded by white sand and hidden from the outside world by a ring of cliffs. Marijuana grows as abundantly as wheat on the prairie, and at lunchtime plump fish practically jump out of the surf onto your harpoon. The sun never seems to burn the skin. Richard has also had the good sense to bring along an olive-skinned French beauty, Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen), who in turn is accompanied by her equally cute, and uniquely ethical, boyfriend.

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