Less is More

Rating: Null/10 (21 September 1998)

Where skeptics and other rampant "Titanic" haters typically center their criticism is on the perceived sappiness of the central romance. What they fail to do, however, is recognize the subtle vignettes that Cameron masterfully employs to make us comprehend the impending terror, the tragedy and the visions of hope and grandeur that went plunging into the icy depths with the great ship. Andrews sips his brandy and turns back the clock on the mantle, an old couple embraces and weeps as water rushes up to the bed, the ensemble soberly plays its final pieces together, a preacher delivers a final prayer with a mass of hands clinging to him. Those are the scenes which make "Titanic" the cinematic juggernaut it has become. Some may be put off by the Winslet-DiCaprio romance; this male, however, found it to be very essential, a frame of reference for the audience to vicariously realize the horror of the accident. "Titanic" deserved each of its 11 Oscars.