What is it about 'The Beach' that it gets clobbered by reviewers? Agreed that the plot goes haywire in the second half, but the movie was by no means as bad as Iron Mask. The first half of 'The beach' (where it follows the book) is itself worth the price of admission.

I mean – cinematography? Great;
Music? Great;
Leo? Not too bad(again critics thrashed his performance, but he was supposed to play that kind of a role)
Direction? Very well
Production values? Splendid
Script? Excellent…until that female 'Sal' makes her entry.

Agreed that it wasn't the greatest movie in the world…but as I am a fan of the book, and of the movie, I'm juts putting my point across.

Lot of people hated Blood Diamond…you liked it. Same case with the Beach here.

The best word to describe Leo's acting for me is Intense. He is one of those actors that really seems to immerse himself in a character, and it shows.

I totally agree with your article, he still looks in his 20s yet manages to pull off everything he puts himself in. I really hope he gets an Oscar at some point in his career (as well as Johnny Depp & B. Pitt….maybe Tom Cruise too).

Departed is my favorite Leo flick.

mihirkula said: What is it about 'The Beach' that it gets clobbered by reviewers? Agreed that the plot goes haywire in the second half, but the movie was by no means as bad as Iron Mask. The first half of 'The beach' (where it follows the book) is itself worth the price of admission.

I'll admit mihirkula, you know The Beach far better than I do. I only saw it once when it came out and had a hard time watching the whole thing. I remember being bored and thinking, "Oh come on," a lot of the time.

However, I am not against giving films a second chance and I actually think that is important so I added it to the Netflix queue. Probably won't get to it for some time, but when I do I will be sure to do a write up.

Thanks for the comment.

Maybe the book would make it better, but the movie I wont watch again.
I just couldn't enjoy any part of it. Ah well, different opinions eh.

I completely agree with adu and Brad, he still looks so young and I thougth that would be a big problem with Aviator but he did pull it off, his acting that is, the make up didn't make him look older just made up.
His young looks where perfect for catch me if you can and did that brilliantly as well.

Haven't seen blood diamond or body of lies yet, but I am curious about them.

I agree that he seems to be an intense actor. For me, he sells all of his charactors. I can buy that he is the person he is acting out. As far as accents go, I think many critics are far too picky, when it comes to accents. There is more to acting out a character than simply getting the accent correct, for a small portion of the population, that could tell the difference.
My Favorite is Blood Diamond. Almost everyone likes Departed. I thought the Beach was great, myself, and intend on watching it again soon to refresh my memory.
This article will prompt me to check out the others that I haven't seen yet, which includes The Aviator. Hope to catch Body of Lies soon if time and my local theatre schedule permit.

I think The Departed is his best film but his best performance was in The Aviator.

I like this whole spread about Leo but I gotta say it still doesn't give him enough credit. I would say instead of rarely amazing he is, in fact, FREQUENTLY amazing. Especially Catch me if You Can, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, and The Departed. He is one of the best actors of my generation, easily top5 probably top 3. Heck of an article though. Leo is great and I hope one day soon he gets the Oscar he has deserved several times!

I vote for 'The Departed'. I think he did really good in that movie. I love that movie. And I have heard from a South African friend of a friend that Leo butchered the accent. But I don't know.

I also really like 'The Beach'. I don't know what it is about that movie that I really like. I think Leo did a good job in it and I love watching it every time it comes on HBO.

I'm not able to quote or edit posts… .. anyways I'd definitely want to read your writeup of The Beach … i think a few people above ^^ liked the movie too.

I voted for Catch Me if You Can. Thats one of those movies that I can pop in at any time and enjoy as much as I did the first time I saw it. But when it comes down to Leo's performance by itself, gotta go with the Departed. Gonna see Body of Lies tomorrow, so I'll see…

Also gotta agree with some of the above posters, I like the Beach a lot too…agree with ravidlaz, dont know WHY I like it, just something about it.

Didnt like Blood Diamond at all, but thats just me. :)

edit: Critters 3 is awesome, damn it! Im one of 5 people who own all 4 on DVD…yeah.

Hey, I agree with this article. I'm a big fan of Leo and his entire career. Yes, I still love Titanic and put it at the top of my fave movies list. Not merely for his performance, but it is just one of the best damn movies ever made – kudos to James Cameron. I saw it 19 times in the theater and I'm not as young as you may think. When it came out on VHS I bought a big screen TV just to watch it.
Anyway, Titanic aside, I agree that Gilbert Grape is his best performance. Although he has given us solid work since 2002 as you said. However, I have to disagree with Gangs of New York. I hated this movie! There were a lot of really good actors in it, but none of them were any match for Daniel Day Lewis. He acted circles around all of them with what seemed like very little effort.
I knew he was good, but after that, I wouldn't go against him in any film.
The Depated, Catch Me If You Can and Blood Diamond were great performances as well. I enjoyed Blood Diamond much more than I thought I would.
Back to The Beach. I agree it was bad. I read the book and liked it, but the script needed serious work. And, although it wasn't the best movie of his career, I did enjoy The Man in the Iron Mask, if not just because there were two Leos, but for Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons as well.
Thanks, love your website!

My favorite Leo movie will always be Critters 3.

I firstly have to say I love this article you wrote about Leo, its nice to see something good written about him and not just people hating on him. I've been a fan of his for so long and love watching and seeing his movies, He's grown so much as an actor since he first started, sure he's had his bad ones and then his good ones and then his roles that leave you asking for more.. I voted for his movie The Aviator (which he was robbed of an Oscar IMHO), I love all the movies but The Aviator for me was his best performance by far, that "show me the blue prints" scene was the scene that caught me most, he just puts so much effort and hard work into his acting its almost like he's actually living as that character he is portraying. In What's Eating Gilbert Grape, people should have known he was going to be great, not many actors can play a mentally retarded person and actually get everything about that type person down pat, His oscar win is LONG over due and I don't think he gets enough credit for his acting. Another great one he did was The Basketball Diaries, I mean who at that age can play such a good role and do so well and your not even considered an "A Lister" then but still wow us with that performance.. I forsee him along the greats like De'Niro and Pacino and MANY other legends.

I can't understand what you mean with the "good" titanic review. He was amazing in it and it's a joke that he wasn't even nominated for an oscar in my opinion.Also I think he's the best actor born after 1950.

top eight:
Catch Me If You Can
The Departed
Blood Diamond
The Aviator
Titanic(best move)
Gangs of New York
Body of Lies
Whats eating Gilpert Grape

I agree with Dobie, to me , he is actually one of the best actors of all times.
Leonardo is very instense in every movie he does and it doesn't matter what people think. He is by far one of the best actors alive..

Top five:
Titanic his best act of all times
Catch Me If You Can as perfect as the next two movies
The Aviator
Gangs of New York
The Beach