Challenging film

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2008)

I've always thought that Leonardo DiCaprio was a very underrated actor, although Titanic probably puts a lot of people of the scent of his acting skills, it is quite anomaly in his acting career, most of which is exceptional. For example, before Titanic he had a very interesting role in 'What's eating Gilbert Grape', in which I didn't even recognise him and only realised it was him when I saw the credits, he was that believable. I think in his case he is in some people's eyes restrained by his youthful physicality but nevertheless, does possess range, charisma and authenticity in abundance.
I thought this film was astonishing - very difficult to watch at times, as the arguments were so real, ferocious and sprawling. But I found it was in that starkness and reality that the compassion of the film came through, as it was so unblinking in confronting such difficult and ego-ridden issues. The characters were so believably self-contradictory, and confused, it was just like real life! I think this film might come across as a bit of a drag if you expect to be entertained rather than very hardly prodded. This is the type of movie that does invade your head space, but without providing any simplistic morality or easy answers. The plot is inconclusive and leaves a lot of unresolved tension, and it's definitely a film that asks more questions than it answers. For that reason I really liked it, but I can understand that others who see life as considerably less fraught with tension might wonder - what's all this fuss about?!