Cool sinkage, bad linage

Rating: Null/10 (19 October 2000)

Leonardo is a great actor. In THIS BOY'S LIFE (his best role), he plays a troubled youth with an abusive stepfather. In THE BASKETBALL DIARIES (his 2nd best role), he plays a troubled youth with a heroine abuse problem. In ROMEO & JULIET (his 3rd best role), he plays a troubled youth with a love problem. In TITANIC (his 6th best role), he plays a troubled youth with a sinking boat problem. In the 4 years between BOY'S LIFE and TITANIC, you'd think Leo would be able to master the whole troubled youth role (which he also played, and better, in Marvin's room). But it's still at the same level: energetic yet empty; loose yet fragmented; forceful yet tentative. The script doesn't help, though. In a word, it's awful. Kate Winslet towers over Leo here, and seeing her naked was a lot more rewarding experience than it is seeing her bare it all in HOLY SMOKE. Kate and Leo, however, make a good team, and they make it seem like they really love eachother. Though their tacky lines are an obstacle to cross. This could have been a great film. But it settled for alright-with-a-cool-ending instead.