Lacks convincing dialogue, performances and narrative leaving the CGI, which is impressive but is dating already

Rating: Null/10 (14 October 2007)

Rose DeWitt Bukater is a beautiful young woman, travelling to America to be married to the dashing cad that is Caledon Hockley. Jack Dawson is a poor Irish kid with little hope of getting to the land of plenty  until, that is, he wins tickets onto a ship making that very crossing in mere minutes. Jack and his friend rush onto the boat and find themselves in 3rd class with all the rest of the poor people. Meanwhile, on the upper decks, the rich enjoy the space and pleasure that comes with privilege but yet Rose feels little happiness about her loveless prospects. A chance meeting between Jack and Rose sees them fall into a passionate instant love affair but time will show them that the class divide between them is really the least of their concerns.
As others have mentioned, Titanic seems to have enjoyed great praise and great abuse. When it came out it was the biggest movie of the day, sitting at the top of the charts for months and also sweeping the Best Picture Academy Award for that year. However as time has gone on it has received more and more of a kicking from viewers and it has now lost a lot of the appeal and shine that it once had. To some this is just a simple backlash without basis but I'm not sure I agreed with that. Of course there is an element of wanting to tear down the "success" of the film and perhaps wipe that smug smile off James "king of the world" Cameron's face but for me a lot of the negativity comes from people seeing the film in the cold light of day, without the crowded cinema, without the hype, without the partner to hug up to while watching.
So it is with me here. The first time I watched it I was with my partner in the front room of a packed cinema and allowed myself to be carried along by the sheer spectacle and not worry too much about the finer points. However watching it again I viewed it like I would any other film. As such the failings came tumbling out. The story is consistently weak whether it is the speed and superficiality of the central "relationship" or the roundly average dialogue within the script. Funny how a rush to sex is seen as romantic when it occurs in the movie whereas if the same tale was set in a Bolton nightclub, the view would not be the same! Part of the reason for this is the forced emotion and atmosphere of the film, with James Horner's manipulative score constantly on hand to tell us "you're meant to cry at this bit". This is very different from bringing the audience into the characters and the story in a genuine way and you are not getting into this car because you want to so much as being forced in with a hood over your head.
Of course this is not so different from many Hollywood blockbuster, but it is particularly noticeable here because the script and characters are so lacking. Director Cameron cannot make up for the failings of writer Cameron and instead just injects as much of this manipulative schmaltz into proceedings as he can as he waits for his effects budget to kick in. When it eventually does there is no denying that it is impressive in terms of spectacle but I do wonder how this will hold up as the effects become ordinary, because there is little else for the viewer to feast on. Certainly the performances offer very little, mostly due to the material handed to them. DiCaprio is miscast. I know it has been said countless times before but he looks far too young for the part and, as he looks more adult in other films he looks younger and younger in retrospect. Both he and Winslet are capable of so much more but neither really work individually or as a couple. Zane hams it up as a "baddie" and actually seems to be having a good time of it unlike his co-stars. Bates, Fisher, Paxton, Warner, Amis, Hyde and others all fill round the edges with so-so performances.
There is no questioning that this was a massive success and will stand up in lists for years to come. However the effects are already dating and, them to one side, there isn't a huge amount else to spend three hours on. The love story is clunky to match the dialogue and the actors can do little with it producing an unconvincing love story that is forced out with manipulative and exploitative methods that are exposed as such with a clear eyed viewing. A big film but not really a good one.