Hollywood at its best: should be in the top 100 movies ever made

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2009)

I loved this movie.
It has everything -- romance, tragedy, comedy, suspense, action, adventure, acute social commentary -- and is extremely well crafted.
Many movies try to do everything and fail. This movie tries to do everything and succeeds beautifully. Better than that, it is greater than the sum of its remarkable parts. And it is hard to get better than that.
Those who are -- with I admit a lot of justification -- cynical about big Hollywood productions might not ever accept what I am saying.
But being closed-minded is not the same as being clever. Not every low-budget "art" or independent film is great; neither is every big-budget production from Hollywood bad.
"Titanic" not only isn't bad, I am confident that it will go down in history as one of the greatest movies ever made.
Let's begin with Leonardo DiCaprio. He is in a class by himself as an extraordinarily good looking young man who is not just a pretty boy, but who can really act. He was riveting in "The Basketball Diaries." He is no less outstanding in "Titanic." I have never seen an actor showing such range -- from drug addicted athlete to romantic lead -- in such a short period of time. Clearly, the only thing that can hold DiCaprio back is a bad script.
This leads me to my next key point: "Titanic" is very well written. There is not a single false note in the writing, and the plotting is very tight with no holes that I can see. It all fits neatly and plausibly together -- which is rare both in novels and in movies.
I could go on, praising the other actors, the direction, the special effects, etc., but I think I've made my overall point.
This is not just some over-blown pseudo-romance featuring depth-less and soul-less "beautiful people."
It makes me proud that Americans can still create great art -- even in Hollywood.