Film 63: "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"

Woo! I finally got a day off the new job which means a chance to cut into the massive lead Kate's got. So let's review some Gilbert Grapeage.

Synoahpsis

This was a young, small town man's story of adversity, isolation, heartbreak and love starring Jonny Depp and Leonard DeCaprio. Growing up in the rural, middle American farming community of Endora, (I'm assuming Iowa) Gilbert hasn't experienced much of life outside of his home; he spends all of his time between providing for and attending to his morbidly obese home-bound mother, autistic younger brother and two sisters. In the opening lines of the film, Gilbert remarks that "Nothing much has ever happened in Endora, and nothing much ever will."

One pastime Gilbert does take part in is taking his younger brother, Artie, to watch the motorcade of trailers/caravans pass trough Endora on their annual pilgrimage across America. When one of the cars breaks down and is left behind, Gilbert meets a short-haired, free-spirited young woman who seems to take an interest in him. The story of the film is told over the 1-2 week period that the caravaners must wait to receive the order for their new part... and what a 1-2 week period it turns out to be.

The best bit:

Well, I'm never sure where to pick out the best parts of these emotional, touchy-feely moments. Gilbert is so overloaded with the pressures of caring for his brother and mother while yearning for independence and normality that the audience ends up just waiting for him to crack. It takes a very long time... rather than pick out a particular scene, I would say the best bit of the film is Depp's acting: you can see his building frustrations and disappointments building in his body language, expressions and actions throughout the film.

Marks out of 10: The story was very well told and did get to me in places. There's loads of character development happening, and it's highlighted by the progression of certain actions and developments in the film... try observing what's happening in Gilbert's life every time he lights a match. It will rock your world. I generally don't appreciate films set in bleak landscapes like the southwest of the states or the wheat fields of middle America, but it was still good enough to warrant a very solid 7.9