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Titanic
(**1/2)
I guess it was inevitable that I'd review this movie. The sheer amount of hatred I had for this movie at its release was insurmountable at the time. Sadly, I look back at the movie and I realize my hatred isn't really all that misplaced. It was extreme, but that's to be expected when every time I turn on the television I hear about it being the greatest thing since sliced bread; and when I turned on the radio I constantly heard that Celine Dion song. Why was this so popular? And why did all the critics say it was so great? Unfortunately, I know exactly why it won Best Picture at the 1997 Academy Awards. This stuff is right up their alley.
The story is one of those bookends; we start at the present where a treasure hunter (Bill Paxton) is searching the wreckage of the Titanic for a diamond necklace said to have been lost at the sinking. Instead of a necklace, he finds a drawing of a nude woman. That woman is still alive, and when she sees it she contacts him and sets about to tell her story. This sets up the real story; about poor boy Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) and rich girl Rose Bukater (Kate Winslet) and how they fell in love on the doomed ocean liner. I suppose to have said any of that was a moot point. I believe as many people have seen this movie as Star Wars.
The acting is fine. DiCaprio is a talented young actor, and Winslet is one of the most talented actresses I've ever seen. Her work in such films as 1996's Hamlet is still on my mind years after seeing her. Billy Zane is obviously having fun as a loathsome fiancé named Cal Hockley, and Bill Paxton is given limited screen time as the treasure hunter. The movie belongs to the special effects. Seeing the Titanic sink is one of the most memorable experiences in a theatre that I've ever had, and only a director like James Cameron could give us special effects like this.
The problem with this movie doesn't lie in the acting, or the special effects. Instead, the problem is in the script and the director. James Cameron's resume is impressive; over the last 20 years he's become known as the director of some truly great films such as Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator, and True Lies. However, Cameron is no writer. His decision to script Titanic himself damned any attempt on the actors' behalf to create any sturdy characterization.
Cameron is certainly not a bad director. He has an eye for the otherwise unbelievable. 1986's Aliens is one of the most disturbingly brilliant motion pictures I've ever seen to date. But special effects cannot save a film like Titanic, and it would have been wiser if Cameron had given the job to a more capable writer. But, then again, perhaps I'm asking too much of Cameron. This is the man who, at his acceptance speech for Best Director, pronounced "I'm the King of the World!" This is also the man who allegedly punched a film critic for not liking his movie. With such an egomaniac at work, you have to expect him to want to do everything himself.
In holding with the symmetry, I've given Titanic a negative review. I give a negative review when I had a negative experience. And I most certainly had a negative experience viewing Titanic. The con's more than outweighed the pros; and in a movie that should be strong in the writing, it's painful to see such talented actors wasted on such horrid lines. However, this is not a bad film. Winslet and DiCaprio nearly make up for the bad script in their energy together; you feel a genuine fondness for the two characters even though the actions they are SOOOO predictable. Also, there is an hour and a half in which the movie is not only adequate, but also incredibly powerful. I speak, of course, of the sinking of the Titanic. It's here that Cameron is working within his element, and it's here that the film is saved from total catastrophe.
I say negative, but I don't really mean this as being the sole reason for my dislike of the movie. Left to my own devices, I probably would have whole-heartedly recommended this film to everyone who asked me for a decent no-brainer movie to watch. However, it was constantly in the news; constantly on television. And everyone was completely obsessed with this movie; saying it was the best movie of all time. With all the publicity and advertising, one can't help but begin to expect something from this movie, and the combination of disappointment at the end product and CONSTANTLY HEARING PEOPLE SAY HOW FUCKING GREAT IT IS!! can simply make one crack. And yes, dear reader, I cracked like an egg in a microwave on high.
It's been 2 and a half years since Titanic first hit theatres, and at the time some incredibly inept people proclaimed this was the best movie they'd ever seen. Fortunately, they changed their tune as soon as they saw their next movie, and Titanic is now on the back burners of everyone's mind. May it forever stay in its rightful place.