What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Lasse Hallstrom

Starring:  Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Darla Cates, Mary Steenburgen, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover

We know what's eating Gilbert Grape from the inside out:  A house that's falling apart, a 500-pound mother who hasn't left the house in seven years, a special needs younger brother with an affinity for climbing the town water tower, and being the guy to whom everyone turns to fix everything.   This all weighs on him, and even occasional romps in the hay with the wife of the town insurance broker don't provide much relief.  

One thing What's Eating Gilbert Grape has going for it is that it isn't a downer.   There's hope on the horizon in the form of Becky (Lewis), a young lady passing through whose grandmother's truck breaks down hauling their trailer home.   Becky is a Free Spirit and encourages Gilbert (Depp) to come out of his shell because that's what happens in movies like this.   In a way, Arnie (DiCaprio), Gilbert's special needs brother, is free and uninhibited, because he knows no other way to be.   Arnie is unencumbered by the daily grind which Gilbert must face and completely unaware that he is part of the reason why Gilbert's face sags.   Arnie just wants to climb the water tower.

Gilbert Grape takes place in Endora, Iowa; the prototypical small Midwestern town where everyone knows each other and each other's business.   We think no one knows about Gilbert's trysts with Mrs. Carver (Steenburgen), but the way her husband keeps inviting Gilbert to drop by the office sends ominous signals.   Gilbert's 500-pound mother (Cates) draws snickers when she finally does emerge from the house.   Local kids try and catch a glimpse of her through the window.   Cates draws sympathy as a woman who wonders how she became a prisoner of her own sofa.  

DiCaprio's performance was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and it is an authentic performance of a brain-damaged young man who still can sense when things are wrong in his own way.   It is not difficult to admire the Depp performance, which isn't overly verbal but we see the physical toll his life takes on him in his eyes and his face.   Juliette Lewis was fresh off her Oscar nomination for Cape Fear (1991) and employs some of the same sensibilities as Becky as she did in Cape Fear, but I'm not sure I bought her effect on Gilbert.   I sensed more chemistry between she and Arnie.

I'm also not convinced by the all-too-tidy ending which leads me to the question:  Arson is still illegal, no?    One year passes from the penultimate scene where Gilbert burns his house to the ground with his mother's body still inside, but I wondered where the family stayed and how they managed to avoid criminal charges before the forced happy ending.   What's Eating Gilbert Grape has strong performances and a folksy quality which prevents the actors from suffocating under the glum material, but once viewed overall it just doesn't quite work.