What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Admirable film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I am sure that What's Eating Gilbert Grape was excellently script written. The scene, characterisation, and dialog are the strength of this movie. The story of 'nobody' in a small town has become so interesting to watch. I think, Johnny Depp's act was good enough. Leonardo Di Caprio played very well as Arnie. The scene when Gilbert bought a birthday cake at The Foodstand and met his boss at the entrance was great. It continued going to peak and made me cry when Gilbert was beating Arnie when he messed up his own birthday cake. "You don't know how hard is...," Gilbert said. The movie ending is so unexpected and unforgettable.

It's very seldom that a film comes along that can bring the true human emotion out of you and keep you entertained at the same time. This is exactly the case for What's Eating Gilbert Grape, where the main protagonist, Gilbert, played by Johnny Depp, has to deal with the aftermath of his father's death and trying to care of his mentally disabled brother, Arnie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his morbidly obese mother, played by Darlene Cates. Soon a girl named Becky, played by Juliette Lewis, springs up into town and catches the eye of Gilbert. The setting is the small fictional town of Endora, Iowa; Gilbert works for the town's slowly dying convenience store and he often makes deliveries to many of the locals around town. One of the locals that Gilbert consistently delivers to is Mrs. Carver. Played by Mary Steenburgen, whom plans on having an affair with Gilbert. The film is filled with emotion and it is interesting to see how the film is put together. Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio give great all around performances and they show great chemistry when on screen. Gilbert shows that he cares for Arnie and one quote that relates to this is when he says "You don't hurt Arnie, you just don't." This film is one that I would highly recommend anyone watch given the chance because What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a true classic.

Heartfelt, poignant & amusing in equal doses, What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a wonderfully crafted, sensibly narrated & brilliantly acted coming-of-age drama that offers an intriguing glimpse into the everyday life of a dysfunctional family and is powered by stellar performances from Johnny Depp & Leonardo DiCaprio.Set in a small American town, the story of What's Eating Gilbert Grape follows its titular character who has put his own life on shelf after his father's death in order to take care of his morbidly obese mother & mentally disabled younger brother and has been struggling to make ends meet for his family but all of it is challenged when love enters Gilbert's life.Directed by Lasse Hallström, the film begins on a slow note and while the pace never really picks up at any given point, it does allow its characters to breathe freely & adds sizeable depth to their arcs. The small-scale town life is elegantly captured and the lifeless surrounding further amplifies the hopeless situation our protagonist finds himself to be trapped in.However, the most impressive aspect of What's Eating Gilbert Grape is the input from both Johnny Depp & Leonardo DiCaprio. Depp chips in with a highly layered performance that clearly expresses his character's inner turmoil but it's the then-young DiCaprio who effortlessly steals the show with a tender, effective & thoroughly compelling work that will always be counted amongst his finest acts to date.On an overall scale, What's Eating Gilbert Grape expertly covers the themes of familial burdens, brotherhood, responsibility, caring, love, bonding & self-awareness and is at its most enchanting when the screen is shared by Depp & DiCaprio for their chemistry is absolutely spot-on here and easily overshadows the rest of the aspects. Although my experience with it was somewhat underwhelming, it's still worth a shot for DiCaprio's show-stopping turn alone.

So, I have decided to watch all (nearly all) of Leonardo and Johnny Depp's movies. I have to say that this movie is unexpected because it does not have the elements of what I usually enjoy in movies (adventure, action, dramatic romance etc.). The story is simple. Everything about this movie is beyond simple, but it works because the performances from Johnny Depp and Leo (especially Leo) carries this movie. I cannot believe Leo did not win an Oscar for his role, Arnie. I have seen the Fugitive and I love Tommy Lee Jones, but I believe Leo deserved this Oscar. I, always, was outraged that he never won an Oscar, but now I truly understand how upsetting it is for him to not win the Oscars. He puts his everything in his performances. I love the brotherly bond of Gilbert and Arnie. It truly warmed my heart to see Gilbert take care of Arnie the way he did. The ending was so touching.