New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Listen, don't get me wrong, Leo is fine (he's no James Dean). But Kate Winslet is nearly unparalleled in the consistent brilliance of her work. It's hard to imagine her now playing an ingénue in a big Hollywood epic. But did she ever. And while she was the same budding starlet - suffering through Cameron's trite dialogue that features the name Jack 80 times - that I remembered, there was just something extra I had never picked up on before. Elegant sets and impressive visuals be damned. The reason to see Titanic is Kate Winslet's face. She embodies so completely and so accurately a vision of someone consumed with love. All those scenes we remember and berate so well - when Jack draws her, the two of them giddily cavorting in the baggage room, eventually ending up in the foggy windowed car (scandal!), and of course, I'm flying!!! Truly, any mention of them a month or two ago would have induced an eye roll from me, but now, experiencing them through Winslet's eyes, I'm going to say, it was beautiful.

Except I keep reminding myself that the embodiment of a character by a great actress does not a make a good movie. For some reason, Annette Bening in running With Scissors comes to mind. Just because I recognize that she is a great actress doesn't mean this is a quality movie. I held on tightly to that mindset as long as I could. But when I reached one of the film's most quoted, maligned and imitated moments of all, it came crashing down. Rose is being lowered in the life boat, longingly looking up at Mr. Dreamboat while James Horner's score plays - that later with the accompaniment of lyrics sung by Celine Dion would cause us all to have blood coming out our ears. Then, she instantly jumps off the lifeboat back onto the ship, likely resigning herself to - as a Batman villain would say - a watery grave. Horner cues the slow electric percussion as his theme swells. She runs into Jack's arms sobbing as he asks, "Why did you do that, Rose? You're so stupid!" She replies, "You jump, I jump, right?" My eyes instantly welled. What was happening? I actually said out loud, alone in my apartment, "What the hell?" (Actually, my language was a little more colorful than that). In that moment, it was clear to me. It's not about being good or bad. It's about what it means to you and only to you. I have always known that there was a curious power about this film that - almost unfairly - tapped its way into the hearts of pubescent girls everywhere. But while I may have thought I understood that power, I'd never truly experienced it.

Now, one can educate oneself to the nines. You can use buzzwords like narrative structure, shot composition, and mise-en-scène. You can check off a list of great films you've seen and compare it to other film lovers' like scorecards – I have NEVER done that. But let's be honest. That isn't why we go to the movies. It's because of those rare moments, when Kate Winslet looks up at Leo - no, Jack Dawson - and has a totally disarmingly wave of love wash over her. For many, this moment does nothing. For others, it makes us laugh. At different times I've done both. But in that right circumstance? With the right perspective? That moment will define you. And on Sunday night, James Cameron, Kate Winslet and the programmers of TNT defined my feelings. Back in December of 1997 with that sobbing girl under my arm all I wanted was to be her Jack Dawson. But I had it backwards. I'm not Jack. I'm Rose. Twelve years later, Titanic has held up a mirror and shown me my inner 14-year-old, the little girl in me who just wants someone to understand her and love her eternally and unconditionally. And the reason I see that now is because of the circumstance I am in. Because I have finally found him, uh, her (hi, I miss you) and she is my Jack Dawson. And Titanic, of all films, has shown me that. And that friends, is why I love the movies.

Continued:       1       2       3