a very enjoyable experience

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 1999)

ok ok---- so what if i'm the last person on the face of the planet to see this movie. and so what if i didn't see it in the theater with the double-wrap-around-wide screen, the floatation device seats, the automatic-action-splash-in-your-face sequencer, the multi-quadra-super-enhanced-digitally-remastered xyz stereo sound design. so what !! i can still have an opinion--can't i? i knew from the beginning that i was watching the best movie ever----according to some--if not most. so i knew this movie---like the vessel---could only go down from there. but not too far to still make this a very enjoyable experience. all the accolades, all the awards are richly deserving and then some. james cameron has added another masterpiece to an already impressive portfolio---terminator, terminator 2, abyss, aliens, true lies, strange days----these are good movies !! he has a knack of making movies we like to watch. and he's succeeded again. everything about the movie---the look, the splendor, the glamour and glitze are simply outstanding. the fictional story---about a man in search of a diamond but finding the truth so much more rewarding and a woman eager to tell her story and revisit her fondest memories. the acting is top-notch. kate winslet sells this movie and deserves the oscar---god bless helen hunt---portraying the rebel family savior through a prearranged marriage to an aristocratic twit (billy zane). the passion is in her eyes throughout the gambit of emotions she endures and her delivery is superb. there are so many memorable scenes to make her performance classic. dicaprio as the youthful exuberant love interest was also quite good as was frances fisher playing rose's mother. particularly enjoyed the courtship scenes with cal hockley (zane) and rose's mother---and the overall look of rose with the quasi-90's hair style. only a self-righteous nit-picking critic might contemplate the casting of oscar winner kathy bates in such an insignificant role, wishing there were more she could have contributed. i liked this movie as the period piece that it is--- the costumes, the customs, the caste system, all tempered with the back drop of a historical naval disaster. strictly as a love story---yes---we've seen it all before and it does have some problems (dialogue, scene stealing) but overall--- this is a very good movie and i give it a strong 7.5 out of 10. at a time when premium leading women's roles are few and far between ----watch this movie for kate winslet's performance.