A few years ago, people were appalled that Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed by the Oscars for his work as Jack Dawson in “Titanic.”

Don’t expect things to be any different after his recent film, “The Beach,” tabbed as his big follow-up to “Titanic.”

DiCaprio is all grown up in “The Beach” as he attempts to play a “big boy” named Richard. But it’s really just Jack Dawson with a tan and a few muscles.

It starts with Richie boy in Bangkok. As he narrates, he tells us his name and then says we don’t need to know anything else about him, as if to try to make up for his underdeveloped character.

As he walks through Bangkok, his narration is blabbing something about how he is on a quest to find something real — to connect with someone or something — but it all just sounds cheesy.

In a scene used to show how tough Richard is (really an attempt to show that Leo isn’t a sissy anymore), he drinks snake blood with some of the locals, and then walks away with a smile.

Wow Leo, you’re so cool now.

He gets a room in some run down crap-hole where he meets a few people, including a young French couple and a whacko named Daffy who is talking gibberish about some fantasy island and perfect beach.

The next day, Richard finds Daffy dead on the floor after committing suicide, and a map to the beach is pinned to his door. So he teams up with the French couple and they begin their journey.

The so-called secret island seemed pretty damn easy to find, which makes you wonder how it is such a secret. After all, it’s within swimming distance from another island.

Amid trying to ponder that, you attempt to figure out how this French couple got involved.

When they get to the island, they stumble across a giant marijuana field. Pot seems to be another aspect of the movie used as an attempt to show Leo’s new bad side, as he is seen throughout toking it up.

To make a boring story short, the perfect beach has been discovered and a small village has been built there. Richard and his friends are welcomed with open arms, but the people of the village talk of another village of Thai farmers that won’t let anyone new on the island, so it must be kept secret.

But when Richard was on his journey to get to the island, he met some surfer dudes, got stoned with them, then left them a copy of the map. When the village people find out that the surfers are on their way, they send Richard to the top of a hill to live alone and wait for them to arrive.

While living on this hill, Richard begins to transform himself into a bit of a jungle animal. He runs around the forest, spying on the Thai farmers, eating bugs and improving his night vision.

At what is supposed to be a very intense moment of deep narration and profound bug eating, you can’t help but to burst out laughing at the complete stupidity and lack of a point.

Richard even goes so far at one point to hiss at one of the surfer people.

You’ve got to be kidding.

The ending salvages the film’s message somewhat — wherever there is humanity, there is no such thing as a perfect place.

The movie could almost be good if an hour was removed from the middle.

It really is a good message, but the filmmakers spent too much time making scenes to show off DiCaprio and his new image than on getting the point across.

The solid ending is entirely overshadowed by the worthless majority of the film.

DiCaprio was fine in “Titanic,” and he could easily outgrow the burden of forever being Jack Dawson, if only he could act in different roles.

Save “The Beach” for when it’s warm out and in the rental stores.

1 1/2 Stars

Ratings based on a 5 Star scale.

Kyle Moss is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.