What's Eating Gilbert Grape DVD

Advantages: Leo is fantastic in this
Disadvantages: a little too long

This is not an exciting movie. I wouldnt' recommend it for a Saturday night in with the girls and a bottle of wine.. This is one for a mid-week, cup of chocolate, time-to-relax evening. You can read the blurb about the story below, but basically, Gilbert (Johnny Depp) and his sister look after his family following his father's death. Gilbert takes on the 24 hour supervision of his autistic brother Arnie (Leonardo di Caprio) while his sister runs ...
...and is scornful of everything and everybody. His mother hasn't left the house in 7 years, but just sits and comfort-eats. She is now so fat that the house (built by his father) is no longer able to hold her weight and is crumbling around them. GIlbert does what he can.The town is very small and he works in the one local food shop that is being killed by a new superstore. He has to take Arnie everywhere, even to work. His life seems to be unbearable. ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent Acting
Disadvantages: Seems to drag on abit

A good film! Well worth a watch**** Gives you Food for Thought... Johnny Depp (Gilbert) is great and brings the character as the eldest brother to life. Leonardo di Caprio as Arnie (Gilbert's retarded younger brother) really takes his part well and is absolutely fantastic! A performance well deserved of his Academy Award nomination. I liked the story and the screenplay was well written by Peter Hedges who also wrote the book with the same name. ...
...as romantic as first thought. When Becky (Juliette Lewis) turns up on the scene as a kind of new-age traveller with her grandmother (Penelope Branning) in their camper van things start to look up for Gilbert. But (Thankfully) the film does not turn into some soppy romantic drama, instead it takes a new dimension and makes Gilbert realise his life isn't what it could be and does not have to remain that way....... Sound Track: Unmemorable Extras: ... Read review

Advantages: bizarre and homely
Disadvantages: dysfunctional characters, plot and setting

I enjoyed this film, it freaked me out and made me laugh. Gilbert is moody and gullible. I like arnie best, his strange brother who is such fun. My favourite moment is when gilbert reverses the truck and nearly runs over his moody sister! His mum is big but I can't believe she's 36 stone! She has a bit of a phobia about herself and should try some diet pills. None of the girls are sexy and none of the blokes are horny... typical picture of downtown ...
...film good, not the people except arnie who is really something special: the way he chops that locust's head off! And the funny way he grins! The plot is bizarre, the things that happen are ordinary, indecent or strange and the characters haven't got any character. It's not set in a place you'd want to visit... I guess it is so DYSFUNCTIONAL, like the people and town in it I find it ARTY! A bizarre arty American film. Not arty really but almost the ... Read review

Advantages: Superb acting *especially by DiCaprio*
Disadvantages: Slow moving

...Set in Endora, Iowa -- a small town with no real claim to fame, What's Eating Gilbert Grape is one of the few films I can watch over and over. I think most of it has to do with the fact that the movie is remarkably real. It contains conflicts *both inner and outer* that all of us deal with on a daily basis, thus making the audience feel a close connection to the characters and their story. Gilbert (Johnny Depp) longs to leave Endora but is tied down by his autistic brother, Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio); his incapable mother; and his internal vow to keep his family together after his father's death. When an outsider, Becky (Juliette Lewis) gets stranded in Endora, she shows Gilbert just a glimpse of how big the world is, as well as learning a thing or two about life herself. I'd recommend this movie to anyone with a love for indie movies... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Di Caprio
Disadvantages: A little long, maybe

...di Caprio, unless you're female and about 14. For me, one of the most upsetting things about Titanic was seeing an actor with such genuine and remarkable talent wasted on such a non part, and watching his transformatin into teen idol rather than serious actor. A few years ago, it was all so different. That was when Gilbert Grape came out, and Leonardo made everyone take notice.If you have ever doubted Leonard's talent, this movie will change your mind. He plays Arnie, autistic and disabled younger brother of Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) and it is the performance of a lifetime. It is a portrayal of such observation and sensitivity that it has to be seen to be believed. And it totally steals the film, even against the beautifully understated performances of Depp and Juliet Lewis, who plays Depp's sort-of love interest. The movie is set... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: breath-taking performance, lovely story
Disadvantages: no

...wonderful performance by the actors... johnny depp is perfect for this leading role with a sense of heart warming, caring and miserable. leonardo dicaprio, with no doubt, stand out by acting as a mentally retarded brother of johnny depp.. have heard one of the celebrity saying that when they meet dicaprio after the premier of what's eating gilbert grape they are terrified as they think dicaprio was actually a mentally challenged boy until they met him.. very understandable!! he is even nominated for a grammy with this performance!! about the story, i am not going to write the summary out as i think you must have read that somewhere, but this story about a family is very touching and will warm your heart in some way for sure... then a little about the actors.. there's a common link between johnny depp and leonardo dicaprio... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful