A pretty good movie, but certianly not worth the hype...

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 1998)

Titanic is a near-personification of a movie that is carried by one person. Without Kate Winslet, the entire love story subplot of Titanic would have been awful. Despite the cliched dialogue and plot, and the poorly-cast DiCaprio, she manages to make the relationship seem sweet, sincere, and legitimate. If the film would have had a good male lead, Titanic would have been almost as tragic as Saving Private Ryan (but in a different, less deep way). Jack's death scene would have brought even me to tears. As it is, I was sad, not because of Jack dying, but because of Winslet's heart-breaking reaction. Her brief but tragic words to the just-deceased Jack were quite moving. Too bad I couldn't have cared less about him.
I personally find it amazing that I cared about the romance as much as I did , because Leonardo DiCaprio was miscast in his respective role. While I realize that I am risking the wrath of teeny-bops all over the nation, I personally thought that he looked about five years younger than Winslet. This was especially evident in the dining room scene, in which he looked like he was about fifteen. Still, however, he did about as good as he could have. And if they had of offered me as much money as he was paid to do the role, I would've certianly done it in a heartbeat, so you can't really blame him. Still though, I can't help but feel a sense of frustration at the job that, say, Matt Damon could've done with the part.
The sinking scene was absolutely brilliant. Easily the best portryal of it in film history. That should be a given, though, considering the ridiculous budget.
If I'd have made Titanic, I would have made three changes: first and foremost, get a different script. Cameron is an excellent director, but, sadly, the same can not be said for his writing talents. The dialoge was extraordinarily cheesy and cliched at times. If it wasn't for the strong performance by Winslet, the whole thing would've been laughable. Second, recast DiCaprio. Third, take out the sexual stuff. The romance was actually fairly well done, and it would have seemed far more pure and heart -warming without the two sexually related scenes.
Ultimately, Titanic is a good but tragically flawed film. I strongly recommend it, but only if you take this suggestion: when you watch it, don 't try to be a critic. I almost disliked the movie for the aformentioned reasons when I first saw it. The second time, however, I managed to let the flawed parts pass, and just watched it, not trying to critique every second of it. Unlike the first time, I was almost moved to tears at the end.
*** 1/2 out of ****