by John Powers

... Although Titanic has its clichés, dull patches, and inexcusable flaws - Zane´s performance is broad enough for an early silent movie - it excerts a genuine emotional ppull. We´re carried along by its young stars, who both specialize in headlong romanticism. Winslet always seems a bit lost without an amorous blush to her cheek, and in the opening scenes, she´s awkward and unalluring, perhaps because Rose is suffocated by convention. But as the story progresses, Winlet grows giddier, more resplendent. Jack has unleashed Rose´s dreams, her animal spirits - the movie is HER STOY. And we believe in her rapid transformation because DiCaprio´s Jack is a charmer possessed of an otherworldly charisma: He´s got a manly man´s ability to protect a woman, but the face of a beautiful, sensitive boy. No young male star can match DiCaprio for impetuous ardor - at his best, he´s simply extraordinary - and watching his heroic turn as Jack, you understand why he has the world´s schoolgirls swooning... Cameron does more than simply show how a boy from the wrong side of the tracks helps a girl escape the tyranny of upper-class snobbery. He turns the ship into a metapher for a society where money rules...

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