Review of What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) by Jesse O — 13 Feb 2011

I love this movie. Johnny Depp is quite dreamy in this movie. I'm not a homosexual or anything, I'm just an honest man. Anyway umm...instance of homosexuality aside. This movie is great. I'm reminded of The Shawshank Redemption when I think of this movie.

Because that movie didn't exactly have a "plot" per se, at least until the last 45 minutes or so, it was just about life in prison and the friendships Tim Robbins' character made. Same thing with this movie, it's pretty much about how life is in the little town of Endora.

Though this movie has a more understated plot that is woven throughout the movie. It's Gilbert's mounting pressure on having to do EVERYTHING for his family and having no real time for himself.

He always had to look after Arnie, he always had to look after his mom. When he tries to have some time for himself, something usually ends up going wrong which adds to his stress. So when he finally lets out his anger on the wrong person (Arnie), it's definitely a really strong scene because of the way Gilbert's relationship with his brother is presented and how much love Gilbert really has for his brother.

So yea I really like this movie. Leonardo DiCaprio is absolutely fantastic. If you didn't know he was an actor, you'd probably swear he really was mentally retarded. Johnny Depp is quite good, but again, it's a much more understated performance.

Same thing with Darlene Cates, and this was this woman's on screen debut. She was a natural at it, quite frankly. Obviously with her weight it's certainly limits her type of roles. But goddamn she was great in this movie.

You know, despite how things end up in the movie, overall it's just a really sweet and touching story. It's certainly a simple movie, but a great movie nonetheless.