Number 525 on the top 1000 films of all time is Lasse Hallstrom's coming of age drama 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?'
Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is a grocery store clerk working in a small Iowa town. When he isn't taking care of his morbidly obese mother Bonnie (Darlene Cates) or intellectually disabled younger brother Arnie (Leonardo Dicaprio,) he is navigating all the obstacles of his life.
One of the biggest running jokes of the millennium was how Leonardo Dicaprio, despite being nominated multiple times, has never won an Oscar. You could argue this is where it all starts. At nineteen-years old, he was nominated for the Best Supporting Oscar for the role of Arnie. He became the seventh-youngest nominee. True, he was up against stiff competition like Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List or Pete Poselthwaite in the Name of the Father, but he would have been well-deserving of the Oscar. Dicaprio was great in this film. He played Arnie with humanity and vulnerability. He wasn't a cliche or a caricature, but a real, breathing human being. Many of the character's trademark tics were all Dicaprio's choice. Reportedly he was so convincing as Arnie that at the film's premiere many people were surprised to find out that he wasn't intellectually disabled in real life.
However, Dicaprio can't take all the credit. All the cast were great. Let's start with Johnny Depp who wasn't even nominated for the Best Acting Oscar. And he would have been a very deserving winner. He takes Gilbert Grape through a great story arc. His inner conflict is so clear. Despite caring deeply for his mother and brother, the pressures of being a carer soon get the best of him. At Arnie's birthday party, he ruins things by eating his cake early. Gilbert snaps and hits him. The guilt of this sends him soul searching until he finally returns home and apologises. Depp played this role with great sensitivity. Having been a carer, I am fully aware of how stressful it is.
And lastly we come to Darlene Cates, as Bonnie Grape, who was a little bit of a dark horse. This was her first acting role and she received critical acclaim and rightly so. Just like with Arnie, there was the danger of making this character a cliche or a joke, but she portrayed Bonnie brilliantly. She was such a tragic character, but never a pathetic or pitiful one.
This was a great film. I really enjoyed watching it. Yes, it kickstarted Leonardo Dicaprio's career, but let's not forget Johnny Depp as well. He might be best-known for eccentric characters like Edward Scissorhands, Captain Jack Sparrow and Sweeney Todd, but this film proved that he can play more conventional roles roles just as well too.
A lovely film. Great acting all round. I didn't even recognize Di Caprio to begin with. He was entirely believable as Arnie. I read a quote from James Cameron that Di Caprio had requested that his character in Titanic have some sort of disability, which would have helped him get into his role. Request denied of course. But as Arnie he was convincing. Far better I would say than Hoffman in Rainman. Also Depp was terrific, although somehow rather too stellar to be a simple country lad. Acting apart, this film had heart. Something too rarely seen in Hollywood films.
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