A "Titanic" disappointment

Rating: 1/10 (1 April 1999)

Only once in a great while, does a film of dynamic magnitude and power, grace the silver screen. Unfortunatly, this is not one of those. I can sum up the entire film with just ONE word: PRETENTIOUS. The special effects are among the best I've seen, along with the cinematography and technical poise. This COULD of been a film of immense glory and scope, whisking us away on a beautiful journey, showing us humanity's undying spirit in the face of ultimate disaster. Instead, James Cameron tries to replay "Gone With The Wind" on a ship. His efforts could have turned it all into a success if the characters weren't about as interesting as cardboard, and if the story was written by someone who didn't flunk 7th grade english. The on-screen chemistry between DiCaprio and Winslet was laughable at best. I didn't believe for one second that they even LIKED each other, much less LOVE each other (they were both victims of an over-powering score by James Horner). They just didn't even look right for each other. Maybe they should have "beefed-up" DiCaprio so that he actually weighed over 100 pounds, or just found a different actor all together. I just want to know what happened to the Leonardo DiCaprio from "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", or "Basketball Diaries". While watching this film, I was wondering if Cameron was holding up cue cards behind the camera by the way he acted. Kate Winslet was carried by her looks throughout the entire film; she IS gorgeous, but she could have put a little honest energy into the role, instead of it feeling forced out.
You have to give it to Cameron, though. He is a hell of a talented technical director (see "Aliens", "The Abyss", or the "Termanitor" movies), and when it came time to sink the ship, he gave us one hell of a show. All in all, the 45 mintue climax couldn't float this sinking vessel. How a film like this can win 11 Oscar's, and films of a much higher caliber (like "Saving Private Ryan", and "L.A. Confidential"), get snubbed? Sniff-Sniff... ...I smell politics.