Three hours, and it shows...

Rating: 2/10 (21 January 1999)

Right off the bat, I'd like to say that in general, I think that three hour long movies have a tendency to repeat certain parts of its plot over and over to reach its intended length( See, The Thin Red Line) However, Titanic's producer and director James Cameron managed to do a noteworthy job of avoiding this snag. Unfortunately he made a bad movie in the process. Kate Winslet did a formidable job, excuse the phrase, of trying to keep Titanic afloat. Her efforts were hampered by her thoroughly unbelievable lover Jack Dawson (DiCaprio). His "poor boy" image was hampered by his less-than-rugged good looks. For a troubled kid who is supposed to lead a rough life, he hardly looks the part. Hollywood's traditional technique of making a male look more 'rough around the edges' (smearing a little mud on their cheeks and tussling the hair) fails miserably on DiCaprio, mainly due to his flawless face and hair. After two minutes of standing in the mist of the bow of the Titanic, he looks frustratingly like the Leo we see walking around town. The film tends to drag on when it could have been accomplished in little over two hours. By the time the film is over, the fact that the movie is longer than it took the actual boat to sink seems much more believable.