This week's prompt by our favourite Metal Mummy aka Hannah is Leonardo DiCaprio. He's never been one of my favourite actors, but he is undeniably talented and has most definitely "grown into himself" recently, no longer looking like a 12 year old doing work experience in Hollywood. Titantic, which I actually loved and sobbed my heart out over, was ruined by babyface Leo and Kate who looked more like his mother than his lover! I loved the film in spite of them, and frankly didn't feel moved by a frosty Leo bobbing around in the sea at all, while Kate hogged the floating makeshift raft.
That aside, Leo has a Midas touch, and is pure cinema gold. His CV is impressive and he has taken a whole range of roles across a range of genres. I loved him in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? where he played Johnny Depp's younger brother with a penchant for climbing water towers. His portrayal of Arnie was moving, authentic and sensitive. An incredible role for a young Leo.
In 1996 Romeo and Juliet was released, a hip modern interpretation that stayed true to Shakespeare's original dialogue. I am a bit of a Bard-Geek and I absolutely adored this film. The soundtrack, the modern day suburb of Verona and the fabulous direction of Baz Luhrman made this a wonderful audio/visual feast. I'm not sure whether Leo's portrayal of Romeo added anything to the film, but it certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment.
There is something about Leo's acting style that doesn't fill me with awe and wonder, but he is obviously very talented. I can't quite put my finger on why he doesn't light a fire inside me like Messrs Depp, Pitt, Jackson and Caine do. I saw Shutter Island and thought it was pretty good but again it didn't fire me up. I'm yet to watch Inception...I just couldn't cope with it, saw 10 minutes and gave up. I will get around to it soon though!
So there we have it. I know he is a good actor, but he just doesn't get me going with his art. I look forward to seeing him in more films as he gets older. Maybe by about 50 he'll have totally grown into the actor that I know he is inside!