Holds up, but has problems

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2014)

I just watched this for the first time in about 15 years last night. I saw it when it came out, and i was entirely too young to appreciate it (i was about 9 when it came out). The movie over all holds up and it good but there are few things i don't care for. Visually, even 17 years later, the movie is a masterpiece. Sets, costume, cgi, all of it is a impressive as it was when it first came out. The first half of the movie is slow and plodding, which everyone complains about, but this is a love story, not a disaster movie, so I personally think those people need to readjust their expectations and watch this again. My big problem is the 2 leads. DiCaprio and Winslet are OK. But thats honestly about it. Lines are delivered (I feel) either flatly or are over acted. I see them falling in love and honestly it doesn't grab me. And that's not because I'm a guy, I love a good romance. Something about their chemistry just doesn't seem as genuine as i was expecting. Some of the lines at the end are painfully corny, especially DiCaprio's telling Winslet that she is going to "make lots of babies".... Seriously? That could have been beautiful, it's the gut wrenching end to a Romeo and Juliet love story, but I feel like that whole scene was written by an 8 year old. Kathy Bates, as always, I liked, and Billy Zane gets my vote for "Best Scumbag in a Movie Ever". I do like that Cameron make Winslet "Transform" as so many of his characters do (Sarah Connor and Ripley start out powerless and end up tearing the movie apart, and in much the same way Winslet starts as a trapped helpless woman, and ends the movie by taking an ax to doors and saving the lead male). That is done VERY well. I'm still giving this 8 stars because even though this may have snags that I don/t care for, the over all story and the setting are very very strong. The pathos of the passengers drowning or trying to save their children had a knot in my stomach and most of the characters are great, even if the 2 leads are only good.