the beach

The Beach
"The Beach" has turned out to be a very controversial film, imposing
positive and negative views. Harry, in "The Juice," gave the film an A1
rating with all optimistic remarks. Matt Wolf gave the film a very
negative review, mocking every aspect of it.
I am going to cover audience, tone, content, organization, and the overall
effect.
Audience- The audience that Harry tried to reach was a younger crowd
that would appreciate the smaller keynotes of the film. With phrases like
"Yes I said intriguing, henceforth, this is a kick ass flick, no lie."
Wolf leaned toward an adult audience that would be more influenced by
larger vocabulary. With words like antecedents, and incremental, that my
computer doesn't even have in it's spell check. Along with phrases like
"the beaches resident despot, whose officiousness do-exists with a strong
sexual appetite." It isn't that I don't understand these phrases and words,
but I just don't want to read them in a movie review.
Tone- Harry used a tone that was more informal with a smaller
vocabulary; words like believable and particularly, words that are
understandable. He also used a kind of techno-lingo, which is
understandable to teens but not to adults.
Wolf used a very formal tone which was directed to adults. As I noted
earlier he uses words that aren't even in spell check. His attitude coming
into the piece was very negative against the film, with remarks such as,
"So how is Leo? Not bad actually, which is more than can be said for a
script from John Hodge that ditches most of the novel's tension."
Content- The content in Harry's piece was more like a plot summary,
with phrases like, "We find a self-contained environment, complete with
couples, brothers, and friends, the whole nine yards. This is the main
focus of the film." He was more optimistic and just generally nicer in his
review. He also used two historical references, such as "Swiss Family
Robinson," and "Taxi Driver," that he believed reflected the plot of the

film.
Wolf used a more quotation-oriented view. He didn't really summarize
the film, but just depicted every part and used quotes to reflect his views.
He was also very pessimistic as aforementioned. He also imputed a lot of
prior history on the book and the film, with many different views on all
the parts of the film.
Organization- Harry's organization was very loose and difficult to
follow; he was not orderly and he really didn't use a outline formation.
He just threw the review together, that is how it reads anyway.
Wolf used a structured organization with a very orderly summary. It
wasn't really easy to read because of the vocabulary but it was easier to
follow because of the organization. It seemed that he used an outline in
his review. Wolf seems like a journalist and Harry seems like a more
free-lance writer.
Overall effect- Harry led me to believe that he liked the movie and
thought there was a good point to it. In his conclusion he said, "The
Beach' really showcases Leo's maturity. I have never been particularly
fond of him, but this film shows a more believable darker side.
Wolf sent a very negative message to me about the movie. He made me
think that Leo did a very good job acting, but the rest of the film was
terrible. In his conclusion he states, "The Beach, in comparison to
'American Beauty,' such considerations merely sound waterlogged." Also
he stated the teeny-bopper fans of Leo will be confused and irritated with
the film.
I thought these were two very good reviews that opposed each other
immensely. Personally I would rather read the article written by Harry,
just because I understood it better. I don't like highly negative reviews,
that turn me off of the movie completely.
Harry in "The Juice" Movie Channel 2/13/00
Matt Wolf At the Movies: 'The Beach' 2/13/00