What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Director: Lasse Hallstrom Writer: Peter Hedges, based on his novel Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Darlene Cates, Laura Harrington, Mary Kate Schellhardt Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is a young man languishing in a small Iowa town, stifling under the responsibility of caring for his family following the suicide of the father. Hope arrives in the form of a bohemian girl (Juliette Lewis) who travels the country in a camper with her grandmother. It held up well on a recent rewatch, though it’s not as devastating as I recalled. (Oh, the hazards of returning to a cherished film.) The character of the gigantically obese mother (Darlene Cates) effectively dramatizes how family obligations can tie one down, and it's interesting to note how she morphs from a figure of ridicule to one of sympathy as the film progresses. I first became aware of Leonardo DiCaprio because of his role as the autistic (?) younger brother. I rem...