What's Eating Gilbert Grape | Review & Score

About: A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.

"You shimmer, and you glow."

I've been wanting to do a full review for WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE for a long time now. Finally.

If you know me, you know by now that this is my overall favorite film of all time. I've probably seen this film over 50 times in my life and it's never a dull moment each time.

The performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp are tremendous. This was the first of many Oscar nominated performances from DiCaprio in his career. This was really the movie where DiCaprio got to show his incredible range as an actor. Depp is the same. This was really when we saw the range of Johnny Depp as an actor.

Gilbert Grape also has a great overall cast. I like all the characters. The tone of the story is very subtle, somewhat deadpan at times, but has a nice grasp on charm, tenderness and heart throughout. I also love the performances of Darlene Cates and Juliette Lewis. Cates is so powerful whenever she's on frame. Whether it's more subtle in tone or she throws out the passion in her aching voice, she's fantastic.

Lewis is more the heart of the story. She's shy, but she feels so strongly with herself whenever she is with Depp on frame. I feel a great authenticity between the those two characters. You can see Gilbert get more comforting and open whenever he is with Becky. He has found the one person in the world that can understand him, because his family doesn't wanna take the time to get to know him.

DiCaprio as Arnie is tremendous on every level. He shows no restraint in his charm, heart and learning to be himself. Arnie is not an easy character to pull off in this form of artistry, but DiCaprio manages to be true to the nature of things, but not be overly cliched with the context. Arnie will pull at your heartstrings, but also bring a bright light to even the most depressing-like scenes.

All in all, What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a heartwarming tale with some familiar themes, but expertly crafted and performed by a phenomenal and game cast.

5/5