I am back home now and will be on site shortly. I would like to thank everyone who has sent me messa...
I am back home now and will be on site shortly. I would like to thank everyone who has sent me messages regarding my Father's illness. Much appreciated.xxx
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What's Eating Gilbert Grape, is a story of the title character who looks after his mother, brother and two sisters in the home that their father built just before he was 'hung out to dry' 17 years earlier in Endora, Iowa, 'where nothing ever much happens and nothing will.'
Mama (Darlene Cates) used to be the 'prettiest gal in these parts' but is now a 600lb mountain of a woman and who hasn't stepped out of the front door for at least seven years and whose oversized proportions play havoc with the infrastructure of the house they still live in.
Gilbert's (Johnny Depp) younger brother Arnie (Leonardo Di Caprio) is mentally handicapped and was never expected to survive much beyond childhood, and may not much longer. In fact, it could be any day now. As Gilbert sums it up in one line, 'Sometimes you want him to live. And sometimes you don't. His older sister, Amy (Laura Harrington), is a home-maker who yearns for normal domestic bliss while the youngest, Ellen( Mary Kate Schellhardt), has just turned 15 and had her braces removed.
Gilbert's troubles, however, stretch far beyond his family, extending to his friends, employers and customers. He works at Lamson Groceries which is battling against the huge Foodmarket where everyone else shops on the outskirts of town; he's having an affair with Mrs. Betty Carver (Mary Steenburgen); and his best friend, Tucker (John C Reilly), is going crazy about the opening of a franchise burger joint, the best employment opportunity, he thinks, to hit Endora since, well, since he can remember.
Into this self contained world bursts Becky (Juliette Lewis) and her grandmother (Penelope
Branning), caravanning tourists who find themselves stranded in the dead-end town for a while with mechanical problems. It is where Becky is forced to involve herself with community life during her brief stay and, of course, Gilbert.
At the heart of the movie, though, is Gilbert's indecision - whether to remain loyal to his family responsibilities, or whether to pursue his own freedom for happiness - in the shape of Becky.
My Thoughts ----------------
On the surface Gilbert seems like a pretty sort of normal guy, but underneath something is going on. There is hostility and rage and yet he is only allowed to express it a couple of times in the film. Imagine the feeling of being stuck in a place, whether it is geographical or emotional. I personally can understand the rage of wanting to completely escape from it and from everybody and everything you know and start a new life. This is how Gilbert felt and from that point of view, it is not difficult to appreciate the appeal of the film or the character. At some point or another Gilbert allowed himself to die inside, slowly killing or martyring himself for his family, becoming a surrogate father - even to his mother. That kind of loyalty may have started out as pure love, but it worked against him, with love and devotion turning into resentment and guilt and losing himself, which is the worst thing he could do - because then he hated others because of what he had done to himself.
The film was based on a novel written by Peter Hedges in 1993 and not long after the book had been published Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat) was considered to be the best director for the film. Hedges knew he would bring great humanity to the characters in the film rather than making fun of them. Johnny Depp was chosen to play the role of Gilbert not only for his physical beauty but also for his sensitivity which had already been illustrated in Benny and Joon and Edward Scissorhands. Johnny slipped into his character pefectly and I cannot fault his acting at all.
Important to his portrayal, was the fact that there were things that had happened in his own life that were parallel to those in Gilbert's. For Johnny, playing the small town son who takes care of his mother and retarded brother was, in many ways, a throwback to his own childhood; his parents' divorce, looking after his heartbroken mother, and picking up the support cheques from his father. I am sure it must be taxing to play something that's so close to reality.
Just as Depp played the role of Gilbert with precision and sensitivity, Leonardo Di Caprio was brilliant as his mentally handicapped brother, Arnie. But it didn't happen by accident. Apparantely, it was one of the hardest roles he has ever played. He wanted to be able to get into the mind of somebody with a disability like that. He spent a few days at a home for mentally retarded children where he was able to focus on the mannerisms of some of the people he had met. I thought he gave Arnie a child like quality, playing him very free and open. He was a great counterpart to Johnny's Gilbert who is solemn and serious about life. At times I did think that Di Caprio stole some of Johnny's scenes. All the same they were a marvellous combination.
The rest of the cast took shape around the core of Johnny and Leonardo. Juliette Lewis, best known at the time for her role in Woody Allen's, 'Husbands and Wives' portrayed Johnny's love interest. She played the caravanning tourist, Becky, with stillness and a sense of logic. She was smart and sensitive but at the same time free-spirited. Mary Steenburgen was wonderful as the small town wife. And as for Darlene Cates, she actually did weigh 600lbs and came to the part almost by accident. She was spotted by Hedges on a chat show about obesity and the problems associated with it, and although not a professional actress, she turned out the perfect choice. Not merely for her size, but also for the understanding she would have for the character.
My favourite scene with Cates in is one which is painfully real. The scene where she leaves the family home for the first time in seven years and is driven by Gilbert to the police headquarters to fetch Arnie from the cell he has been thrown into. His recent climbing escapades have left both police and emergency services alike in a quandary as to what to do with him for his own safety, so for the time being they lock him up.
Gilbert's mother is outraged, and storms into the police station to demand that her boy is released right there and then. No one, of course argues. Not even Gerry, the Duty Sergeant. With Arnie back in safe hands, the family leave as they arrived - together, amidst a crowd of onlookers who stop dead in thir tracks to stare at the spectacle.
I like this scene because I think an integral part of the film is letting people see how much bigotry and cruelty big people go through.
Final Comment -------------------
This is an extraordinary film that is emotional and will make you cry. Lasse Hallstrom has created a movie that is simplistic but allows you to get to know all the characters. Johnny Depp plays his role with subtlety but at he same time makes you care about what happens to his family. He relies mainly on his facial expressions rather than the sparse dialogue. Leonardo Di Caprio is utterly convincing as Arnie, his mentally handicapped brother. His facial expressions, body movements and diction are very real. Together, they are awesome. To say that Cates has never acted before her performance is admirable.
The musical score is quiet and still for most of the film except for a few light piano touches. The lighting and cinematography are both naturalistic and beautiful. It is a film without cliches - it is just perfect and one you will watch over again. Highly Recommended.
Summary: A Testament to Love and Caring.
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Meet Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp), a young man who lives in Endora, Iowa, population 1,091. ... more
Describing it, says Gilbert, is like dancing to no music. Gilbert lives with his mother, whose 36 stone frame is slowly destroying the fragile Grape homestead, h...
![What's Eating Gilbert Grape [1993] (Johnny Depp, Leonardo Di Caprio, Juliette Lewis) [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78501776.jpg "What's Eating Gilbert Grape [1993] (Johnny Depp, Leonardo Di Caprio, Juliette Lewis) [DVD]")
Jan 21st, 2009
(Jan 22nd, 2009)
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