Too much success can sometimes kill you. In the midst of all the Titanic hoopla, a film that was the peak summit of the young Leonardo DiCaprio’s carrer, you would think that the movie about the big boat was going to be the key event that launched him into being THE “A” list man in Hollywood. But it didn’t work out that way. Titanic, ended up making people hate good old Leo.
It’s the same thing that happens with great songs on the radio (does anyone listen to radio anymore?) get played too much. Over saturation leads to distaste. Pretty soon, what was everyones favorite song last week is now hated by people. And I think that’s what happened to DiCaprio. Huge mega hit, that eventually got everyone sick of it, and sick of the star too. A star (DiCaprio), who still hadn’t matured yet as an actor and had a lot of growing to do still.
I was one of the people who was tired of Leo. I had as much distaste for him as anyone else. Yes, there was “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” but nothing he did after that impressed many people. Then came Titanic, and the huge hit looked like it may have killed him. His follow up films pretty much tanked (The Man in the Iron Mask, which I thought was actually pretty good, and The Beach). Yeah, it looked like he was done.
But then something strange happened. Along came Gangs of New York. Now, I don’t think Gangs was an AMAZING movie, but it did put Leo in the hands of Martin Scorsese and let him work with MASTER actor Daniel Day Lewis. That experience did something for him. The performance Leo gave in Gangs was probably the best of his career up to that point and I remember actually thinking “wow, he was actually ok in this”. The point is, with Gangs of New York you could start to see the change in Leo’s acting. He had stepped it up a notch. He was developing. He was growing. Working with Scorsese and Lewis I’m sure had something to do with that.
Then came “Catch Me if You Can”. Now in the hands of Steven Spielberg and working with another MASTER actor, Tom Hanks, DiCaprio kicked it up another couple of levels and flat out blew me away with his performance. It was the movie that made me finally ask the question “Holy shit, could DiCaprio actually be for real???”
In his next film, The Aviator, Leo answered that question. Yes, he really is for real. The performance he gave as Howard Hughes should have beat out Jamie Foxx for Best Actor at the Oscars that year (Jamie was wonderful, but DiCaprio was insane good in that movie). He had come full circle. He was starting to finally DESERVE all the praise he got when he was younger and didn’t deserve it. How ironic.
This year, DiCaprio put out two films, and the only argument wasn’t about it Leo should be nominated for an Oscar this year… but which one of his amazing performances (Blood Diamond and The Departed) they would nominate (They don’t want to split the vote, so you knew he’s only get nominated for one). He is just now in a whole new league. He’s on a level that 99.9% of actors will never attain. Pure, CONSISTENT, quality performances that pretty much make him money in the bank.
Has Leo now done enough to exorcise the Titanic demons that have plagued him for the last 10 years? Is the general movie going audience now looking at him for the actor he has become instead of the teen heart throb he was back in the 90’s? Are you now able to look at him as one of the best of the best actors alive today, or do you still see “that guy from Titanic”? Leave your thoughts.
