What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Rated PG-13 for elements of mature subject matter.

I planned for this series to be called “Saturdays are for Sleepers,” but I’m running into a problem: I like to do stuff on Saturdays. After five days of reading, writing, coding, and doing circuits homework, I don’t want to sit and write a review. So, I’m thinking the series may continue to be called “Saturdays are for Sleepers,” but the “Saturdays” part will be flexible. I may write on Sunday or Monday or any day I want to. You can watch the Sleepers on Saturdays if you want. I suppose that was my original intention; I just lost track of it somewhere along the way.

Some may argue that What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is no sleeper. The only collaboration between Depp and Dicaprio (that I know of) saw a limited release in December, 1993, so its not a new film. It comes on channels like ACM and TCM regularly, so its also something of a modern classic and many people have seen it. But until last Thursday, I had not seen it, so I have to believe there are others like me that are unaware of this odd, endearing little film about life in Small Town, USA.

The fictional town actually has a name, Endora, Iowa, but it might as well be anywhere. The film was shot in small communities around Austin, Texas, and the nondescript setting could ring true for any American town. Young Johnny Depp plays a long-haired Gilbert Grape, a contemplative young man who is clearly meant for something other than his eternal hum-drum existence but is tied to the town because of his family. When his father died some years before, his mother plunged into depression and transformed from the “prettiest woman in town” into a “beached whale” as Gilbert calls her. Gilbert and his two younger sisters are clearly ashamed of their mother’s enormity and frequently have to shoo away local kids who try to sneak peaks of the poor wha–err–woman. Then there’s Arnie, the youngest Grape, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is mentally handicapped but incredibly sweet-natured. He is fast approaching his eighteenth birthday, a miracle considering doctors said he wouldn’t live past ten. Much of the tension of the film comes from the challenge of keeping Arnie alive until his 18th birthday. Arnie is helplessly bound for self-destruction as evidenced by his repeated climbs up the local water tower.

Three aspects of Gilbert Grape impressed me as exceptional. First, the atmosphere of the small town and the personalities that populate it are spot on. I’ve lived in small towns most of my life, and I found myself recognizing characters in Gilbert Grape that I must have encountered in real life at some time or another.

Second is Depp’s sweet yet pitiful performance as the stifled, overworked breadwinner for a hurting family. Depp has always gravitated toward unique characters, and Gilbert is no exception. His understated way of speaking and his strange affair with a much older woman establish him as an unusual character, but what is refreshing is that Depp strives for authenticity in the character of Gilbert Grape. All of Gilbert’s sacrifices, frustrations, delights, and idiosyncrasies seem to spring from a place of truth. Lately, I feel, Depp is comfortable with letting characters become him, so its nice to see his vulnerable side in a film from early in his career.

Lastly, DiCaprio’s performance, the only Oscar nomination from Gilbert Grape, is simply one of the best portrayals of a mentally handicapped person in the history of cinema. Watching Arnie laugh helplessly at his older brother’s slightest word nearly brought me to happy tears on several occasions. What pure, unadulterated joy!  To think DiCaprio was only eighteen when he acted in Gilbert Grape gives some idea of the abundance of talent he’s been blessed with. DiCaprio’s never won an Oscar though he’s been nominated three times. If the Academy really does honor bodies of work over individual performances (a la Sandra Bullock’s win for The Blind Side), then I’d say DiCaprio’s time is coming.