A Titanic disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (16 March 1999)

I have seen "Titanic" twice. From the beginning, it has promise, but the promise fades away when the upper-class passengers are all depicted as cold-hearted, selfish villains with little or no humanity at all. The "villains" are too cartoonish to be real, much less entertaining. Especially in the cases of "Cal" and "Mr. Lovejoy", who are even psychopathic! We know right off that the girl's fiancee is someone to root against because 1) she has to end up with Leo, so she cannot be allowed to desire this man; 2) he is arrogant enough to put half of Hollywood to shame; 3) with his lines "God himself could not sink this ship" and "Picasso: he won't amount to anything; trust me, he won't" we know that he is an idiot, and a waste of her time. The special effects were outstanding, but I can't help thinking that if only the movie had depended more on good writing than the hearthrob factor, that it would have been a much better movie.