Semi-
dramatic film released in 1993. It was directed by
Lasse Hallström and written by
Peter Hedges, based on his own
novel. It starred
Johnny Depp as
Gilbert Grape,
Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape,
Darlene Cates as Momma,
Laura Harrington as Amy Grape,
Mary Kate Schellhardt as Ellen Grape,
Juliette Lewis as Becky,
Mary Steenburgen as Betty Carver,
Ken Tighe as Ken Carver,
John C. Reilly as Tucker Van Dyke,
Crispin Glover as Bobby McBurney, and
Penelope Branning as Becky's grandmother.
Here's the basic
plot: The Grape family lives in a
rundown house in a
small town. Gilbert, the eldest son, wishes he could leave, but he has to stay in order to help take
care of his
developmentally disabled brother Arnie, who has a tendency to
climb extremely
tall structures, and his
mother, who is the town
joke because she's
grotesquely
obese and never moves from her
couch in front of the
TV. He falls for Becky, a
quirky but
charming girl who travels all over the country with her
grandmother. That's it, really. There are no big car chases or explosions or gun battles. There's not even a whole lot of
romance. I like it anyway. It's a small,
character-driven movie, which is the kind of
movie I find myself
enjoying more and more. Depp is very likeable as Gilbert, Juliette Lewis is surprisingly non-irritating, DiCaprio is utterly
convincing (he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, ya know), and Darlene Cates, in her first-ever
acting gig, is an
awe-inspiring revelation. Hell, the
scene where she gets off the couch to go to the county
courthouse -- no, no, that would be telling too much.
Go rent it. Ladies, you can at least claim it's a
romance and it's got that guy from "
21 Jump Street." Guys, you should rent it, too, but you'll just have to wait for a
non-beer night when all the usual
moochers are safely
hungover at home.
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and from actually watching the movie