TITANIC (1997 - ROMANCE / ACTION / DRAMA) ****1/2 out of *****
(I’m the King Of The World!!!!! Well, maybe, just of this ship…)
CAST: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart, Suzy Amis, Bernard Hill, Victor Garber, Jenette Goldstein.
DIRECTOR: James Cameron
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good reasons to go on a cruise that doesn’t go anywhere near any icebergs - straight ahead….
IT’S LIKE THIS: Underwater explorer/super scuba diver/treasure hunter Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his crew are exploring the legendary wreck of the RMS Titanic which sank way back in 1912. Within the wreckage, they discover a drawing of a mysterious woman with a great set of hooters and a diamond necklace. Doing some detective work, Brock finds out that the mystery woman was one of the survivors and is now a 100-year old chick named Rose Calvert (Gloria Stuart). Brock flies Rose and her granddaughter Lizzy (Suzy Amis) out to his research vessel. There, Rose regales Brock, Lizzy, and the rest of the scuba divers with her epic tale of love, danger, - and seasickness:
It’s April 10, 1912 and the RMS Titanic is getting ready to embark on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England all the way across the Atlantic to the Big Apple in the US of A. You basically have two kinds of passengers: (1) rich hoity-toites in First and Second Class like Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), her materialistic mum Ruth (Frances Fisher), her asshole fiancee Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), and the no-nonsense Molly Brown (Kathy Bates); and (2) everyone else. By “everyone else“, I mean folks who are sailing Third Class - or even lower. Chief among them are aw-shucks yank Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), Italian pal Fabrizio DeRossi (Danny Nucci), and what looks like a whole shipload of immigrants. Needless to say, the lovely British class system is definitely alive and well on the RMS Titanic and, ordinarily, Rose and Jack would never even meet, let alone begin a passionate shipboard affair. But before you can say “Clark Kent’s Parents!” that’s exactly what happens. Life would be perfect - except for two things: (1) Cal, Rose’s asshole fiancee, kind of objects to the Rose/Jack smooch-a-thon; and (2) there’s this, ahem, giant iceberg that has its own “Date With Destiny” with the RMS Titanic. And I thought my Hawaiian Vacation was thrilling. It ain’t got nothin’ on this trip. Anyone else get the feeling that Rose’s story is going to have a whopper of a climax? And I don’t just mean the one that she and Jack have together in the back of that car. Naughty, naughty…
THE DUDE (OR DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Our scruffy and scrappy boy Jack, who is quite the feisty firecracker. And let’s not forget Rose, who starts out as an aloof ice princess - but eventually melts and turns into an action heroine. This is, after all, a James Cameron film. My boy James likes his tough guys and tougher gals….
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Leo DiCap is still in his boyish phase here, and Kate Winslet, while exceedingly lovely, is far too wholesome for my gutter-dirty thoughts. So, while these two are terrific in their lead roles, this award must go to… Danny Nucci as Jack’s dago/wop best pal Fabrizio DeRossi - who is basically America‘s Earliest Guido. Viva Italia!
MOST INTENTIONALLY TOUCHING SCENE: Jack and Rose in the water at the end. If you‘ve seen the movie already, you know what I‘m talking about. Sniffle…
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY TOUCHING SCENE: Jack and Fabrizio clowning around on the bow of the ship. Anyone who has snuck into someplace they weren‘t supposed to go - and got away with it - will totally relate to these two dorks in this scene.
HOTTEST SCENE: Jack sketching a nekkid Rose - then steaming up the insides of a car in the cargo hold. Not that I’ve ever done either. Ahem.
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: We pretty much know what happened four days after the RMS Titanic set sail from England, right? For those of you who somehow don’t know (like those of you who were born under a rock and never moved out) - let’s just say the ship bounced off an iceberg, then went due south - as in vertically south. But who will survive? Jack? Rose? Ruth? Fabrizio? Molly? That asshole Cal? Will either Jack or Rose have to make the ultimate sacrifice so the other may live? Or will they both make it safely to port, eventually marry, and produce two awesome sons? In my version of the story, they do…
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “TITANIC”: If you like gripping action films that seamlessly fuse with soulful, against-all-odds romances - and end up being stellar, one-of-a-kind cinematic experiences. And if you are a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, or James Cameron. If so, this is your Christmas movie…
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “TITANIC”: If you like action movies, but not romances. Or vice versa. In which case, you may struggle with this one, because it is just as much a love story as it is an adventure. You’re better off watching a full-on actioner like BAD BOYS or THE ROCK, or full-on romance like THE LAKE HOUSE or ROMEO AND JULIET, if that’s the case.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Earlier in this review, I described the romance between Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater as “against-all-odds.” While that is the perfect way to describe their unlikely union, it is also a very apt description for the uphill battle that writer/director James Cameron faced while fighting to bring his vision of TITANIC to the silver screen. Even with his very successful track record of action/thrillers like THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, TERMINATOR 2, THE ABYSS, and TRUE LIES, his proposal was met with some serious skepticism from the studios, who are very focused on the bottom line. And TITANIC had a lot going against it, commerce-wise.
For starters, it was going to be a period piece. A very expensive one. And a 3-hour long expensive period piece, at that. And, on top of that, it was going to be just as much a romance as it was an action adventure. If not more. Indeed, it is nothing short of a miracle that TITANIC got made at all. But if there was anyone who could make it work, it was James Cameron. While he is often hailed as an Action Movie Genius, most people overlook the genuine spirit of emotion, humanity, and romance that exists in all of his films. Sometimes they are very subtle (THE TERMINATOR, TRUE LIES), other times they are more obvious (ALIENS, TERMINATOR 2), and yet other times they are front and center (THE ABYSS). In all of these films, Cameron effectively combines kinetic, dynamic action with stirring, haunting emotion. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he makes TITANIC soar as much as it does.
And, soar it did. When it was released in 1997, TITANIC eventually proved to have some major “legs” at the box-office - both domestic and international - and went the distance. Indeed, until AVATAR’s release a couple of years ago (also written and directed by James Cameron, by the way), TITANIC had the honor of being the most financially successful film of all time. And, if you want to factor in inflation, it is actually still more financially successful than AVATAR. Bottom line: Cameron made a daring, visionary, all-or-nothing bet with this story - and won. The whole world responded to his vision in a resoundingly favorable manner, making TITANIC just as legendary as the real-life ship it’s based on.
TITANIC is a near-perfect film, but I’m going to state its flaws up front. First, as much as I adore James Cameron, some of his dialogue here is a little stagey and “on the nose.” The best movie dialogue is conveyed through subtlety and subtext. And also, never underestimate the power of lack of dialogue altogether: sometimes, silence and expressions can convey emotion more eloquently than five pages of dialogue. Fortunately, the actors (with one exception) bring such passion, conviction, and feeling to their roles that this potentially major liability is mostly smoothed over.
Which brings me to the film’s second flaw: Billy Zane as Cal Hockley, Rose’s villainous fiancee. I hate to single him out like this, but every time we watch TITANIC, his theatrically cartoonish performance always stands out unflatteringly. I’m not sure if this is because Cameron wrote Hockley in such a manner, and directed Zane this way - or if Zane chose to play the character as so over-the-top. In all fairness to Zane, though, I have heard about how precise and controlling Cameron can be - and I tend to think that this is exactly how Cameron wanted Hockley to be portrayed. If so, I have to humbly state that I think it was a mistake. A subtler, more complex performance would’ve made Hockley a more sympathetic and human character without compromising his villainy or the Jack-Rose romance. As it is, he comes across as something out of Central Casting.
Other than these two items, though, TITANIC is near-flawless. There was a time when I thought that Jack Dawson should’ve been played by someone other than Leonardo DiCaprio. Especially when I heard that the studio had wanted Matthew McConaughey for the role, but James Cameron was adamant that DiCaprio be given the job. I used to think that McConaughey would’ve made a better Jack. But then I realized what Cameron was going for here: a boy who tries to act worldly and manly, but then has to grow up for real when his life - and the life of the woman he loves - is placed in mortal danger. In essence, Jack Dawson has to live up to all of the philosophies and credos he so eloquently expounds upon in the earlier part of the film. In short, the boy must now truly become a man - and put his money where his mouth is. As talented as McConaughey is, I don’t think he has the right combination of innocence and boyishness required for this kind of transformation. And DiCaprio pulls it off beautifully. Viewed in this light, he is perfect for the role of Jack Dawson. TITANIC is, in essence, just as much a coming-of-age for both Jack and Rose, as it is their coming together as a couple.
Speaking of Rose, a multitude of actresses were considered for the part, and it was a stroke of good fortune that it finally went to Kate Winslet. The part requires someone who can combine a frosty aloofness and classy demeanor with a more uncertain vulnerability and fragility, as well as a child-like innocence and humor - while hiding a steely courage under it all. And Winslet is ideal because she specializes in playing women whose humanity is always front and center, no matter how simple or complex they ultimately turn out to be. And in Rose’s case, she proves to be quite complicated, indeed. It’s a surprisingly tricky role, and she deserved the Academy Award nomination she received for her efforts. She brings beauty, intelligence, emotion, class, and grace to the role - and makes it her own.
The supporting cast (with the exception of the aforementioned Zane) are all good. Frances Fisher is an effectively chilly presence as Rose’s money-hungry and status-oriented mother Ruth. Kathy Bates is her warmer and earthier counterpoint as the real-life Molly Brown, who clearly approves of Jack and Rose’s union. Not surprising for such a real and down-to-Earth woman. Victor Garber, David Warner, and Bernard Hill lend solid support as the various stoic men who make noble sacrifices for the women and children of the ship after it strikes the iceberg. Finally, Danny Nucci is very appealing in the small but memorable role of Jack’s Italian best friend Fabrizio DeRossi - who makes his own sacrifices in the name of friendship. His original death scene in the script was much more tragic - and I’m glad it was changed to something else for the final film because it would’ve been too heart-breaking to see.
Then there’s the action. This is where Cameron’s craftsmanship really shines. The set design for the RMS Titanic - and its ultimate destruction - is simply breathtaking. The 11 Academy Awards this film collected in 1998 were mainly technical awards - and they’re well-deserved. I vividly remember seeing TITANIC for the first time back in Japan in 1997, and can still hear the gasps (and sniffles) in the audience. Much of it had to do with the bracingly realistic effects. And with the movie being re-released in April in glorious RealD 3-D and IMAX 3-D, those images are bound to be even more spectacular, if possible. The sight of the stern of the ship rising up into the night sky, as desperate survivors either plummet into the water or row away in lifeboats, is an iconic one that is sure to leap off the screen, come spring of next year.
In the end, though, TITANIC is just as much a love story as it is an action/adventure - if not even more. Cameron himself has said that what the film ultimately expresses to us is this (and I‘m quoting): “life is uncertain, the future unknowable, and the unthinkable is possible.” It’s a very fitting way to describe how his vision beat the odds to give us one of the most-loved and remembered films of all time. And it’s also the perfect way to describe the romance at TITANIC’s heart: Jack and Rose, by society‘s rules and expectations, shouldn’t have even met on that ship. They were from different worlds, and different classes. Yet, they did go further. And even if their union was not ultimately meant to last, the important thing is that it happened. And many great things came out of it.
Or as James Cameron would say: “Life is uncertain, the future is unknowable, and the unthinkable is possible.”
In closing, please chill to Celine Dion’s Academy-Award winning theme for TITANIC, “My Heart Will Go On.” I dedicate this song and review to all the unlikely, against-all-odds romances out there, whether they began on a ship or not, and whether they lasted or not. The important thing is they happened - and great things came from them. Especially from one particular real-life shipboard romance between a handsome Italian steward and a Norwegian-American nanny on holiday, some thirty years ago...
