Essay/Term paper: The beach

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Culture

"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 He also used two historical references, such as "Swiss Family Robinson," and "Taxi Driver," that he believed reflected the plot of the film.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

http://yahoomovie.com

Matt Wolf At the Movies: 'The Beach' 2/13/00

http://newsroom.compuserve.com