Word: winslet
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Although everybody knows how the movie must end, director James Cameron drains the tension by framing the story of the Titanic through the eyes of Rose (Kate Winslet), who tells about her romance with the impoverished passenger Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio). The two run the events of normal cinematic romance, and Cameron's script presents the lead actors with incredible cliches. Each of the other characters represents a segment of society rather than a person. As the ship breaks apart and its passengers choose between life and death, Titanic achieves an epic grandeur that the film may not deserve. Overall...
...KATE WINSLET The young, winsome star of Titanic leads a wave of British nominees for the Best Actress Oscar...
...lead actors with some incredible cliches. DiCaprio's Jack is idealized as a poor free spirit who just happens to be a sensitive artist. DiCaprio displays a youthful charm, and occasionally an intensity that recalls some of his past superb work. The script requires the young Rose (Kate Winslet) to be essentially two different characters: a repressed aristocrat and a rebellious teenager. The imaginative Winslet carefully balances these opposing characteristics with complete success...
Unfortunately, each of the other characters represents a segment of society rather than a person, from Winslet's snobbish mother (Frances Fisher) to DiCaprio's earthy Italian friend (Danny Nucci). Only the underutilized Kathy Bates, who provides tremendous fun as the 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown, stands apart from the cardboard cast. No one is worse than Billy Zane as Winslet's insufferable, domineering fiancee. The character is tragically thin, and Zane does less with it than one would think possible...
...prime example of how special effects can service a storyline instead of replacing it. Several bold action sequences develop the romantic storyline better than do the more character-driven scenes. The most exciting of these occurs when DiCaprio is handcuffed in the bowels of the flooding ship and Winslet must save him. For a film that depends so greatly on cliches, this is a surprisingly effective role reversal, for Winslet does not abandon her femininity to make this switch...