Gilbert Grape - Review

Gilbert is trapped, and we come across with deafening volume through the wonderfully understated performance by Johnny Depp. Into all of this gnawing tedium comes a fresh face in the form of Juileette Lewis – Becky, of course Gilbert falls in love with her and Arnie develops his own kind of crush.

It is movie about love and responsibility and staying sane without hope. We can see the walls of his life threatening to crush him – the grinding dullness of his job, the desperation of his affair, and the lack of freedom demanded by his homelife. Gilberts brain damaged younger brother Arnie ( Leonardo DiCaprio) has to be constantly watched. d is long dead, the victim of a suicide, and his exceptionally obese mother ( Darlene Cates) is generally incapable of moving from the sofa where she spends most of her life.

If there is a fault in this calm movie that has been picked out, it is that the line between allowing damaging behaviour to continue and taking control of the life that's given is very thin, this movie comes down directly on the side of sacrifice. Away from home, Gilbert works in the local grocery store, hangs out with his friends and carries on an affair with Betty Carver, the wife of a local insurance salesman.