The Leonardo of the Movies

In the year 1997, when the movie “Titanic” was released there a huge hype around the movie and definitely it did stand tall for all the hype and hoopla. But there were a few uncertainties in my mind as to:

• Why did a seasoned director like James Cameron get a relatively new face like Leonardo DiCaprio into the lead role of this movie? Yes, the movie demanded a refreshingly new face, but…
• What else in Leonardo captivate a director like Cameron?
  

I had seen this guy in “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” and “Marvin’s room”; those were just mediocre performances. Even in “Titanic” except for a few moments of finesse there was nothing noteworthy. Sure he did attract a lot of girls for his “chocolate boy” looks, but never got the attention of the typical movie lover. So I never had answers for it then, and it remained the same for the next three years.

Then there was a quick flash: his beautifully portrayed role in “The Beach” in 2000. His performance in the movie definitely took a few by surprise and also made the theatre goers to expect something out of his new movies. Yes, he still had his lover boy image in him, but there was a lot to come from this young but promising lad.

2002 was a year to remember for Leonardo. Two movies with two great directors both set-up with an olden day backdrop; “Gangs of New York” and “Catch me if you can” were critically acclaimed for not just the directorial performance of Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg respectively, but also for the extraordinary recital of the characters Amsterdam and Frank Abagnale Jr. Especially in “Catch me if you can” he had exposed the different facets of acting talent in him; may it be romance, finesse, subtlety etc.

His association with Martin Scorsese had a telling effect on his future performances and also his so-far illustrious career. It was even compared to that of the Scorsese-De Niro alliance that did wonders for Robert De Niro in the early stages of his career. All those comparisons and expectations must have given the feeling of some butterflies flying in his belly and our man stood up to it.


Two more years in Hollywood and two more movies with Scorsese; “The Aviator” and “The Departed”. In my eyes this guy lived as “Howard Hughes” and the portrayal of an under-cover cop in the latter was also no less to be neglected. Though the men behind the lens did make a difference, it was the inherent ability of Leonardo that came to the fore.

But for me after decade of following the progress of this “man in the making”, the best performance from him came in “Blood Diamond” where he comes in as a Rhodesian native with an accent that is really difficult to replicate (I swear, I did try it myself and it was really tough). He did that as if it was a cake walk!!!

With nominations for Academy award (thrice), Golden Globe Award (five times) and also winning one Golden Globe Award, even the little time that I would have spent to track his evolution as a elite actor was worth spending and here I am with a blog article to articulate on yet another talented and gifted “young gun”