DROWNING IN SORROW DiCaprio and Winslet embrace their fate

Titanic: Merie W. Wallace

#15 Titanic

It's easy to dismiss James Cameron's Oscar-hogging tragedy as a one-trick pony, the sort of bombastic love story that made a gazillion dollars precisely because it hewed so closely to the ''Gone With the Wind'' formula. But because it did just that, the timeless love story at its core (good-but-rebellious rich girl meets scruffy-but-lovable poor boy) plays out so uncynically that it's hard not to blubber when, following the ship's awesome collapse and nearly three hours of adventure, betrayal, and window-fogging passion, we finally reach the...

KLEENEX MOMENT. Slowly freezing to death, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) professes his love to Rose (Kate Winslet). She lets go of his hand, and he slips into the dark, unyielding sea.