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What’s the Story?

Reviewed bySandie Angulo Chen
Director James Cameron frames the story of the TITANIC in the late-1990s, when a high-tech underwater mission uncovers some hidden treasures from the legendary ship, including a nude drawing of a beautiful young woman. A nearly 100-year-old woman (Gloria Stuart) reveals she is the woman in the drawing, and the audience is then immersed in the events on-board the ship from her point of view. She was Rose (Kate Winslet), a lovely young woman engaged to one of the richest men on the ship, the cool and calculating Cal (Billy Zane). Unhappy with her forced engagement, she briefly considers launching herself overboard but is saved by the witty, handsome Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), a third-class passenger who won his ticket in a poker game. As the two grow closer, Cal frames Jack for stealing, and the ship hits an iceberg, throwing everyone into a catastrophic, life-and-death situation where relationships are tested and courage is rare.

Is It Any Good?

4

A decade after it became the highest-grossing movie of all time, Titanic is now considered a guilty pleasure in certain serious movie-lover circles, despite its 11 Academy Awards. But the universal appeal of Cameron's epic blockbuster is undeniable. There's an irresistible love story starring two of the best actors of their generation; dazzling visual effects that involve the most famous ship disaster of all time; a smug, rich villain so easy to hate he should be sporting an evil, twirling mustache; a soaring James Horner score coupled with Celine Dion's hokey-but-touching "My Heart Will Go On" theme; and some fine performances by supporting actors like Kathy Bates as the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, Frances Fisher as Rose's snobby mother, Bernard Hill (known best as King Theoden in that other epic, Lord of the Rings) as Captain Smith, Victor Garber as the Titanic architect, and of course Oscar-nominated Stuart as the narrator, Old Rose.

Like most of Cameron's movies, the romantic relationship led by a strong central female character are the heart of the film, while the action and special effects are what draw in equal numbers of women and men. It's safe to say that young teenage girls couldn't give a hoot about the Titanic breaking in half, whereas some guys are counting the minutes until the ship starts to sink. But that's the magic of Titanic -- a young boy can gloss right over the romance and focus on the action, while a teenage girl can concentrate on the swoon-worthy love story, and grown-ups can sit back and enjoy it all -- even if they pretend not to later.

 

 

 

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