movie review of what's eating gilbert grape

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What's eating gilbert grape.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 8 Reviews
• Kids Say 40 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Ellen Twadell , based on child development research. How do we rate?

'90s drama about dysfunctional family has mature themes.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that What's Eating Gilbert Grape? is a 1993 coming-of-age movie in which a young man, Gilbert (Johnny Depp), tries to carve out a life of his own even as he must be the "man of the house" to his dependent family. The mother, who has been morbidly obese since the suicide of her husband, is…

Why Age 14+?

Occasional profanity: "s--t," "a--hole," "hell." One use of the middle finger ge

The lead character is having an affair with an older married woman. Oral sex is

A developmentally-disabled teenage boy is slapped in the face repeatedly by his

Cigarette smoking from adults. Some beer drinking from adults -- no one acts dru

The theme of the homogenization of America is explored through minor subplots: a

Any Positive Content?

This movie attempts to show empathy and understanding toward those with morbid o

Gilbert displays self-sacrifice and selflessness as he tries to take care of his

Occasional profanity: "s--t," "a--hole," "hell." One use of the middle finger gesture by a teen. Jokes and cruel remarks whispered or mentioned offhand by people in the town at the expense of the Grape family's morbidly obese mother and developmentally-disabled son. The developmentally-disabled son laughs maniacally at the mention of their father, then repeats over and over again "He's dead!" while holding his hands to his neck in imitation of the father's suicide in the basement of the house.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The lead character is having an affair with an older married woman. Oral sex is nearly initiated by her as he's on the phone with her husband.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

A developmentally-disabled teenage boy is slapped in the face repeatedly by his older brother during a moment of overwhelming frustration. This same boy is arrested by the police after climbing the town's water tower one-too-many times; he is forced into the back of the squad car and bumps his head upon entry. Reference made to the hanging suicide of the family's father. A stressed-out father has a heart attack (not shown) that is discussed among characters. Three friends discussing the mortician work one of the friends does leads to a talk as to whether or not the morticians "mess with" the bodies. A house is set ablaze by the lead characters.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Cigarette smoking from adults. Some beer drinking from adults -- no one acts drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

The theme of the homogenization of America is explored through minor subplots: a large supermarket chain that has opened outside of the small Iowa town in which this movie is set is hurting the business of the long-time mom-and-pop store, a fictionalized fast-food chain restaurant opens in the town to great fanfare.

Positive Messages

This movie attempts to show empathy and understanding toward those with morbid obesity or mental challenges. The obesity of the mother of the family is indirectly linked to the depression she experienced over the suicide of her husband and her oldest son running away from their family's difficulties.

Positive Role Models

Gilbert displays self-sacrifice and selflessness as he tries to take care of his developmentally-disabled brother, earn money for the family, and take care of their house while trying to find a way to have a life of his own. He resists any temptations to simply pack up and leave their small Iowa town like his older brother. The mother, a morbidly obese woman who has not left her house in years, leaves the house to get her son out of jail, bravely enduring and ignoring the slack-jawed stares of passersby and the cruel remarks of kids. Becky, on the road with her grandmother, isn't judgmental toward anyone in the Grape family, accepts people for who they are, and displays kindness and patience.

Parents need to know that What's Eating Gilbert Grape? is a 1993 coming-of-age movie in which a young man, Gilbert ( Johnny Depp ), tries to carve out a life of his own even as he must be the "man of the house" to his dependent family. The mother, who has been morbidly obese since the suicide of her husband, is presented as a fully-developed character, but is also the victim of taunting from both children and adults. The teenage son Arnie ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) is developmentally disabled, which causes him to repeat words and phrases overheard while being incapable of understanding how these words might be hurtful to others, such as repeating "Dad's dead!" at the dinner table while holding his hands to his neck in imitation of the way his father killed himself in the basement. Gilbert is in the midst of an affair with an older married woman -- at one point she tries to initiate oral sex on him while he's on the phone with her husband. This husband, overwhelmed and stressed-out, loses his temper on his kids, forcing them into their kiddie pool before he dies of a heart attack (not shown). Death and dying is discussed. Occasional profanity: "s--t," "a--hole," "hell." Cigarette smoking and drinking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (40)

Based on 8 parent reviews

Loved it since a kid!

What’s eating gilbert grape., what's the story.

WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE is a strange and touching take on family life. Gilbert ( Johnny Depp ) lives in a small town in Iowa with his family, including his housebound mother ( Darlene Cate s) and his mentally challenged brother, Arnie ( Leonardo DiCaprio ). Gilbert is the only one with a job and has the additional worry of caring for Arnie, who loves to climb the town water tower. When the well-traveled Becky ( Juliette Lewis ) arrives in town for a short stay, Gilbert starts to dream about leaving his town and his worries, which include an ill-advised affair with a married woman. Throughout the film, Gilbert is torn between his own wishes and his loyalty to his family.

Is It Any Good?

What's Eating Gilbert Grape is sometimes hard to watch, but well worth it. There are some difficult scenes dealing with hard-hearted outsiders teasing the Grape family, and some scary ones when Gilbert loses his temper with Arnie. But there are also moments of beauty and compassion, and an offbeat sense of humor throughout. A wonderful cast brings the characters to life. Watching this movie will remind viewers of Depp's talent and DiCaprio's range. The film is also a visual treat, with lush sweeps of Iowa farm country serving as a backdrop for the drama.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Gilbert becomes the breadwinner and caretaker for the family after his father's death. How much sacrifice does family demand? How can individuals meet their own needs when they need to take care of their families?

For far too long in movies and TV, overweight people were presented as little more than fat-shaming punchlines. How is this move different in its portrayal of a morbidly-obese woman? How does the movie attempt to connect her obesity to depression?

Does this movie seem like a realistic depiction of small-town life in a rural Midwestern state? Why or why not?

Gilbert's family faces a lot of negative attention from the town, and he struggles to remain loyal. What qualities are worth loving? Is there love in the Grape family?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 1, 1993
• On DVD or streaming : September 12, 2017
• Cast : Johnny Depp , Juliette Lewis , Leonardo DiCaprio
• Director : Lasse Hallstrom
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters , Brothers and Sisters
• Character Strengths : Empathy , Integrity
• Run time : 118 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : mature themes, language.
• Last updated : August 4, 2024

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape Reviews

A blissful slice of Americana...

Full Review | Aug 16, 2022

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2021

Grape makes a lasting impression with its quirky performances and bittersweet themes of hope, humility and perseverance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2021

This emphasis on character and texture is full of pleasurable rewards-especially when the astonishing DiCaprio is on-screen-and there's enough growth and compassion to keep it from being a Diane Arbus freak show come to life.

Full Review | Mar 22, 2021

Despite Depp's tender melancholy, the performers who stay with you are those who dare to crack the surface of their characters' alienation.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 22, 2021

Although DiCaprio is the one who ends up getting more attention from the public due to the enormous performance, the movie gives life to a restrained Johnny Depp. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 28, 2019

Though it takes dark twists and turns to an inevitable climax, What's Eating Gilbert Grape will leave you feeling full and satisfied with a renewed sense of the value in family.

Full Review | Jul 3, 2019

The realistic depiction of marginalized characters overcoming grief and accepting disabilities is what makes this film timeless.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Oct 17, 2018

Gilbert Grape has body and deep flavor, but it can be wonderfully dry too.

Full Review | Jun 5, 2018

Depp is subtly winning as a man-child oblivious to his own pent-up rage. But the performance that will take your breath away is DiCaprio's.

Full Review | Mar 13, 2015

A challenging look at the ups and downs of family.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2011

Even if you have a taste as I do for movies about dysfunctional families, you may be a little put off by the Grapes.

Full Review | Feb 8, 2010

Suggests that the true heroes are those people who day by day must tend to misfits, and do so with love, tenacity and a determination not to go terminally sour in the process.

Full Review | Jun 19, 2009

It's endearingly loopy without degenerating into a carnival tent show.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 19, 2009

It's as fascinating to see DiCaprio before he became a bona fide star as it is to watch Depp at the very moment he cemented his reputation for coolness.

Quite wonderful character study, great acting turns by Depp and DiCaprio, among others.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 8, 2008

There is not much plot to speak of, but the film instead presents a moody, elegiac atmosphere of longing and desperation that is powerfully tangible ....

Full Review | Jul 10, 2007

Hallstrom finds the right bittersweet tone for his dysfunctional family tale (and one of Hollywood's few films about obesity), marvelously acted by Johnny Depp and particularly Leonardo DiCaprio in his second outing as a retarded adolescent.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jun 29, 2007

Depp's sincere, subtle performance is certainly a big reason for the movie's success...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 15, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 11, 2006

SKELETON CREW TRAILER 1

Y2k trailer 1, look into my eyes: the healing power of connection, melbourne international film festival 2024: kneecap, babes, teaches of peaches, sasquatch sunset & wake up, red rooms: half sick of shadows online, i’ll be right there: if parenthood were a modern indie, the monkey: trailer 1, omni loop: trailer 1, alien: romulus: a love letter to the alien franchise, with mixed results, woman of the hour trailer 1, the becomers: what’s weirder, aliens or 2020, kraven the hunter: trailer 1, what’s eating gilbert grape: digesting the importance of family.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) is a story of pure heart, testing the bonds of familial relationships and representing the importance of understanding the struggles of mental health, all while offering one of the truest tangible tales of pain, acceptance, and growth.

Gilbert is a young man living in Enora, Iowa; a colourless town with an even more detached atmosphere than Gilbert’s bleak outlook on life. He has a job delivering groceries, maintains an affair with a married woman, and has a complicated life at home that often leaves him feeling strung out. Forced to take on the role of “man of the house” when his father commits suicide years prior, and with his mother struggling with obesity that leaves her bed-ridden, Gilbert takes ownership over his two sisters and wonderfully bright-eyed Arnie ( Leonardo DiCaprio ), his younger brother who has autism.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is classified as a coming-of-age drama, however, it deploys a stronger sense of sincerity and raw emotion than that of a more conventional film of this genre. Gilbert may be young, but it is a classic case of growing up too fast and not taking enough time to enjoy one’s youth and freedom. There is so much expected of Gilbert that he often loses sight of the bigger picture. Gilbert grows bored with his daily life. He faces a constant routine with his family and job, including coaxing Arnie down from water towers.

Gilbert is looking for some way to escape, if only for a little bit. When Becky ( Juliette Lewis ) comes to town in her RV, he finds a little blossom of colour that begins to spread. Her arrival sends energy into the film, distracting Gilbert from his worries and showing him how to enjoy the little things in life. As someone so fresh and new, like a blank slate, Becky entices Gilbert’s sense of adventure. It’s also apparent he’s is stuck in the same cycle and that a change is necessary to find a place of understanding.

Gilbert starts shedding layers of his reserved self, while still maintaining the qualities that make him a good brother. He breaks off the affair with Betty and pursues a relationship with Becky, who is extremely supportive and enjoys being around the Grape family, especially taking a liking to Arnie.

With Arnie’s birthday coming up, the Grape household is working hard to make it a great day for Arnie, as the doctors never thought he would live to his eighteenth year. This adds extra tension to the household so when Arnie eats his birthday cake too early, you can expect how their patience is tested.

Dynamic Duo: Depp and DiCaprio

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a captivating film with its plethora of raw and methodical characters. It’s both underrated by some and treasured by others for its delicate yet still invigorating style. The characters create a riveting display of reality. Aside from Depp ’s days as a swashbuckling pirate from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, I personally enjoy the roles he portrays as a more soulful outsider with deeper morals. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a perfect example of a misfit perspective that Depp realistically draws on.

DiCaprio also takes earnest care in his portrayal of Arnie Grape. He’s is able to harness the wide range of Arnie’s purest emotions and put an eloquent effort into his lovable character. The actors work well together, demonstrating the bond depicted in the film, exuding the same strength of brotherhood.

Not only do Depp and DiCaprio deliver their roles extremely well, but these characters exhibit the growth and the depth to their relationship, which is demonstrated in the various scenes that place strain on their bond. Arnie and Gilbert may face turmoil and get tangled up in heated displays of aggression, yet they always come back around because of their immense love for one another.

Gilbert Grape’s Greatest Gift

Throughout the film, mental health plays as an overarching theme, offering the heart-wrenching truth behind the closed door of traumatic experiences and the borders of the human psyche. These struggles are embedded within the film in dark contrast to the dull town that the Grape family resides in.

Momma Grape ( Darlene Cates ), suffers from depression after the suicide of her husband and struggles with severe obesity that causes a multitude of health problems. She realizes the severity of her situation but tries to ignore it, instead, placing most of her attention on her children. Despite what may be perceived onscreen, Momma Grape is a truly resilient and loving mother who fiercely protects her family.

Arnie Grape, though never actually discussed within the film, displays classic autism with an abundance of chaotic mannerisms and bursts of emotions that can be stress-inducing to the family, yet not unfamiliar to their lifestyle. However, his presence in the family is ever constant and purposeful with elements of personal strength.

Lastly, Gilbert himself struggles with a buildup of weight upon his shoulders as he takes on the role of reverse parenting since the passing of his father. Because he takes this position seriously, it is thoroughly draining on a psychological level. While the intensity of the struggles with mental health is high, it is not altogether insurmountable. With the arrival of Becky and Gilbert’s newfound passion for more in life, his stone cut exterior cracks just enough to let some warmth and light back into the Grape household, making way for a new era of acceptance, breaking the stigma of mental health issues and focusing on reconnecting as a family.

Overall, there are some startling events that take place and without giving too much away, the film does keep one on their toes with these dramatic episodes. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape presents a dysfunctional family that functions in the best way they know how, showing true grit and compassion.

A key virtue to be gained from this film is recognizing the importance of support in times of need, especially pertaining to mental health. Though it takes dark twists and turns to an inevitable climax, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape will leave you feeling full and satisfied with a renewed sense of the value in family.

Watch What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

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Bree is a journalism major living in Toronto. She is a passionate cinephile with a love for 70’s music and can be found in any nearby bookstore. Bree aspires to travel and share her love of story telling while embracing inclusivity in her writing.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is an offbeat, middleweight charmer that is lent a measure of substance by its astute performances and observational insight. A modest effort of uninsistent qualities but many felicitous moments, this is not the sort of self-trumpeting, broadly commercial release normally associated with the year-end holidays.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Remember Me 15 years ago
• Shutter Island 15 years ago
• Green Zone 15 years ago

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” is an offbeat, middleweight charmer that is lent a measure of substance by its astute performances and observational insight. A modest effort of uninsistent qualities but many felicitous moments, this is not the sort of self-trumpeting, broadly commercial release normally associated with the year-end holidays. But word of mouth, probably starting with teenage girls but potentially extending to a wide variety of audiences, could reward distrib patience with good long-term results.

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Adapted by playwright-actor Peter Hedges from his 1991 novel, small-scale film depicts the Grapes, a rural family that has every right to qualify as dysfunctional: Dad hanged himself in the basement years ago, Momma weighs 500 pounds and hasn’t left the house for seven summers, Amy and Ellen are teenage sisters who probably need a husband and a father, respectively, and Arnie is an unpredictable 17-year-old mental case who wasn’t supposed to survive childhood and requires constant supervision.

Popular on Variety

Under the circumstances, however, the family copes reasonably well due to the princely, self-sacrificial ministrations of eldest son Gilbert (Johnny Depp), who works at the grocery, carries on a discreet affair with an older woman and can’t even think of leaving due to how much Momma (Darlene Cates) and Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio) depend upon him.

Arnie’s refrain, “We’re not going anywhere,” is thrown into pointed relief with the arrival of Becky (Juliette Lewis), who, with her grandmother, sets up home outside town in a shiny trailer. More worldly and sophisticated than the local rubes, Becky gently entices the reticent, unassertive Gilbert into a tentative romantic relationship just as his lover (Mary Steenburgen) is moving away.

Through it all, the center of Gilbert’s life, and of the film, remains his selfless, fatherly bond with Arnie. Evidently autistic and goofily childlike, Arnie particularly likes to climb the town’s water tower so that the cops have to retrieve him, and is the object of family attention due to the grand party planned for his upcoming 18th birthday.

Gilbert is so good, benign and self-effacing in his devotion to those around him that one wonders when he’s going to snap, and indeed he does, but in a comparatively mild manner.

Director Lasse Hallstrom and his fine cast have endowed the story with a good deal of behavioral truth and beguilingly unstressed comedy that expresses an engagingly bemused view of life.

This is best seen in the treatment of the two seriously afflicted characters, Momma and Arnie. Weighing in at a quarter of a ton, Momma gets her children to do her bidding from her permanent perch on the living room couch.

Two key sequences, one in which the dangerously weakened floor under her sofa is repaired without her knowing it, and another in which she finally emerges from the house to demand that the police release Arnie, could have been meanly derisive or superficially ennobling.

Instead, under Hallstrom’s sympathetic direction of first-time actress Cates, who was discovered on a TV talkshow about overweight women, both interludes evoke multiple emotions, which pays moving dividends in her gentle final scene.

Even trickier is Arnie’s character, whose spastic movements and infantile rantings could easily make viewers uncomfortable.

DiCaprio’s remarkable performance doesn’t stint on the erratic behavior, and also brings the kid alive as a human being who must be cared for and nurtured — as hopeless a task as that might be — thereby justifying Gilbert’s devotion to him.

Working with an opaque character who is almost a cipher where desires, emotions and ambitions are concerned, Depp manages to command center screen with a greatly affable, appealing characterization. Only bothersome detail is his pointlessly hennaed hair, which proves distracting.

Lewis provides some nice moments of well-timed interchange but might have brought a bit more edge and vitality to her outsider role. Given much less attention than the boys, Laura Harrington and Mary Kate Schellhardt can only hurriedly sketch in the Grape sisters. Steenburgen must mostly convey desperate longing, while Crispin Glover is amusing as the town’s predatory undertaker.

Set in Iowa but lensed in central Texas, pic has an unassuming, even surprisingly plain look, given Sven Nykvist’s eye behind the camera.

• Production: A Paramount release of a Matalon Teper Ohlsson production. Produced by Meir Teper, Bertil Ohlsson, David Matalon. Executive producers, Lasse Hallstrom, Alan C. Blomquist. Directed by Hallstrom. Screenplay, Peter Hedges, based on his novel.
• Crew: Camera (Technicolor; Deluxe prints), Sven Nykvist; editor, Andrew Mondshein; music, Alan Parker, Bjorn Isfalt; production design, Bernt Capra; art direction, John Myhre; set decoration, Gretchen Rau; costume design, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus; sound (Dolby), David Brownlow; assistant director, David Householter; casting, Gail Levin. Reviewed at Paramount screening room, L.A., Nov. 18, 1993. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 118 min.
• With: Gilbert Grape - Johnny Depp Becky - Juliette Lewis Betty Carver - Mary Steenburgen Arnie Grape - Leonardo DiCaprio Momma - Darlene Cates Amy Grape - Laura Harrington Ellen Grape - Mary Kate Schellhardt Mr. Carver - Kevin Tighe Tucker Van Dyke - John C. Reilly Bobby McBurney - Crispin Glover Becky's Grandma - Penelope Branning

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MOVIE REVIEW : Life’s Sorrows Taste Sweet in ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ : The movie converts despair into uplifting anecdotes and serves as a lullaby for the dysfunctional family generation.

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The Grape family is like an entire week of guests on “Donahue” or “Oprah.” They’re dysfunctionally functional--by all rights their lives should be disastrous but somehow everything comes out OK. Gilbert (Johnny Depp), the brother who holds it all together for his brood in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” has a gift for sanity. With so much nuttiness crowding in on him, he holds a steady course. He’s the family savior who neglects to save himself.

The Grapes live together in a ramshackle homestead on an isolated patch of acreage in small-town Iowa. Their heartbreak began years ago with the suicide of Gilbert’s father. Younger brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio), soon to turn 18, is mentally disabled, possibly autistic and wasn’t expected to last beyond his 10th birthday. His mother (Darlene Cates, who was, in fact, discovered on a TV talk show about overweight women) tips the scale at about 500 pounds and camps out in the living room while her meals are wheeled in to her. She hasn’t left the house in seven years. Gilbert’s two sisters (Laura Harrington and Mary Kate Schellhardt) moan and grouse about their lives.

Quirky, heartfelt whimsy seems to be making a comeback in the movies. “Benny & Joon” was a surprise hit earlier this year and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” (selected theaters) could almost serve as that film’s companion piece. Movies like these convert despair and mental illness into folksy uplifting anecdotes. We will reach the Promised Land if only we can “accept” ourselves and our families. It’s all so nursery-school simple. “Gilbert Grape” and “Benny & Joon” serve as lullabies for the dysfunctional family generation--that’s the core of their popularity.

Gilbert is the saint of the story--he’s like Aidan Quinn in “Benny & Joon,” who devoted himself to his disturbed sister’s welfare, and he’s a bit like Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” too. He’s a do-gooder whose beneficence undercuts his own happiness. Director Lasse Hallstrom gives Johnny Depp so many loving big-screen close-ups that he seems to be enshrining the actor--can the Nobel Peace Prize be very far away?

Gilbert needs an angel to match his own angelic self and he gets her with Becky (Juliette Lewis), an itinerant free spirit who camps on the outskirts of town in her grandmother’s trailer. Becky is even a good physical matchup for Gilbert--her punkish spirituality matches his. (Depp at times looks like a pre-Raphaelite Fabian Forte.)

Becky isn’t fazed by the Grapes. She gets Arnie to overcome his fear of swimming; when she’s finally introduced to Momma Grape, she’s the model of tact and caring.

Hallstrom and screenwriter Peter Hedges, adapting his novel, people the small Iowa town with a crotchety assortment of harmless eccentrics. Their small-town “normality” is the dippiest thing about them. The Grapes turn out to be--surprise, surprise--among the most levelheaded in town. That’s the way it usually is with these whimsical fables: “Normal” loses out to nutty every time.

Betty (Mary Steenburgen), a love-starved housewife, lusts after Gilbert while her husband (Kevin Tighe) is out of the house; she keeps calling into the grocery store where Gilbert works for some personal delivery service. Gilbert’s best friend Tucker (John C. Reilly) dreams of opening up a local Burger Barn; Bobby (Crispin Glover), the undertaker’s son, sizes up the populace as if he were already measuring their coffins.

Hallstrom and Hedges are satirizing small-town life, but they’re also canonizing it. They wring laughs out of the Grapes predicament, but they also try to wring tears. (When Momma gets into the family car, there’s a shot of it puttering down the road tipped to one side that gets a big laugh.) There’s nothing cruel in their approach, but there’s something a bit opportunistic: They want extra points from the audience for being humanitarians.

The relationship between Gilbert and Arnie has “Of Mice and Men” vibes, but it strikes a responsive chord in a way that the rest of the film doesn’t. Most of the credit for that goes to DiCaprio’s performance.

Actually, it hardly seems like a performance. DiCaprio, who was also seen this year in “This Boy’s Life,” works with the kind of minute clinical observation that Dustin Hoffman used in “Rain Man.” As far as it goes, DiCaprio’s performance is astonishing, but its very authenticity is a little off-putting. He’s such a rigorously honest actor that he avoids all the obvious hokum.

You’ve got to admire him. The filmmakers and just about everybody else in the cast head straight for it.

‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’

Johnny Depp Gilbert Grape

Juliette Lewis Becky

Mary Steenburgen Betty Carver

Leonardo DiCaprio Arnie Grape

A Paramount release of a Matalon Teper Ohlsson production. Director Lasse Hallstrom. Producers Meir Teper, Bertil Ohlsson. Executive producers Lasse Hallstrom, Alan C. Blomquist. Screenplay by Peter Hedges, based on his novel. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Editor Andrew Mondshein. Costumes Renee Ehrlich Kalfus. Music Alan Parker, Bjorn Isfalt. Production design Bernt Capra. Art director John Myhre. Set decorator Gretchen Rau. Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes.

MPAA rating: PG-13, for “elements of mature subject matter.” Times guidelines: It includes some mild sexual situations and scenes of Arnie climbing a water tower that may be frightening to small children.

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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Review

01 Jan 1993

118 minutes

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

What's Eating Gilbert Grape? is as odd and funny a collection of cares as ever beset the youthful protagonist of a movie. In the hands of Lasse Hallstrom, the Swedish director of My Life As A Dog, Peter Hedges' quirky script (adapted from his more sardonic novel) is more than sweetly offbeat, without becoming whimsical, cloying or cute.

Poor young Gilbert (Depp, in a vastly charming, sympathetic performance), the rueful narrator hero, is by default the man of the family in a tumbledown house in a vision of Iowa no one could mistake for heaven. He has two feisty sisters and a momma so obese she can't stir from the couch, and works in the small town's failing grocery store where he's expected to deliver more than the groceries to frustrated housewife Mrs. Carver (Mary Steenburgen). And he is, with understandable exasperation, responsible, around the clock, for his rambunctious, severely retarded 18-year-old brother Arnie (DiCaprio, an Oscar nominee for his remarkable, childlike characterisation). Only a temporary visitor in the guise of caravan traveller Becky (Lewis) provides him with a gentle respite from his anxieties and a glimpse of the world beyond Endora, Iowa.

The tale — ultimately a subtle but profound examination of responsibility — is packed with incident, relationships, good lines and delightful performances (including Crispin Glover as the local undertaker). But what makes it more than an eccentric coming-of-age movie is that Hallstrom is in the tradition of European directors who have so often brought vitality and freshness to slices of American life. He observes details with a heightened reality but also with tenderness, so that the mother who's initially a fat lady joke is revealed as beautiful, troubled and deeply human. And if Gilbert's solution is unrealistically tidy, his troubled but good-hearted perspective is everything Hallstrom needed to pull this enchanting and disarming film together.

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape Reviews

• 73   Metascore
• 1 hr 58 mins
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A loner cares for his dysfunctional family, including a mentally disabled brother and their reclusive, obese mother, who has not left the house in seven years.

Whimsical to a fault, WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE? hangs together in large part because of fine performances by Johnny Depp, as the preciously named Gilbert Grape, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Gilbert's retarded teenage brother. Gilbert is encumbered by more burdens than any young man ought to have. He lives in isolated Endora, a dying small town, and stocks shelves at a grocery whose business has decamped to the new mall supermarket. Gilbert's 500-pound mother (Darlene Cates) hasn't left the house since his father hanged himself in the basement, his sisters (Laura Harrington and Mary Kate Schellhardt) quarrel relentlessly, and his retarded brother Arnie (DiCaprio) requires constant supervision. Gilbert's best buddies are a novice undertaker (Crispin Glover) and a gung-ho loser (John C. Reilly) who sees his future in a Burger Barn franchise. And Gilbert is having a desultory affair with frustrated housewife Betty Carver (Mary Steenburgen), whose reckless sexual demands have begun to alarm him. Everyone needs the preternaturally patient Gilbert, whose future seems grimly assured until worldly Becky (Juliette Lewis) and her grandmother (Penelope Branning) coast into town in an ailing camper, opening Gilbert's eyes to the wider world outside Endora. Based on the first novel by Peter Hedges (who also wrote the screenplay), which has a small but intense cult following, WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE? is meandering, quirky, and resolutely small in scale. The film is heavy on character and atmosphere and light on action, though what does happen is so bizarre as to verge on the ridiculous. As directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom (MY LIFE AS A DOG), it's endearingly loopy without degenerating into a carnival tent show.

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape

• A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
• There isn't much for Gilbert to look forward to in the small, dying town of Endora. The only thing keeping him sane is his mentally-challenged brother, and his physically-challenged mother. Despite the challenges that are posed in this small town, Gilbert had forgotten that he has become challenged himself and, with the help of a marooned world traveler, begins to see the bigger picture. — Mal Fee Zants
• Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom's follow-up to the underrated Once Around earned far more attention than its predecessor thanks to the judicious casting of perennial thinking woman's heartthrob Johnny Depp and a certain up-and-coming thespian by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio. A prisoner of his dysfunctional family's broken dreams in tiny Endora, IA, Gilbert (Depp) serves as breadwinner and caretaker for his mother and siblings following his father's suicide and his older brother's defection. Momma (Darlene Cates) is a morbidly obese shut-in who hasn't left the house in seven years; her children include Arnie (DiCaprio), who's about to turn 18 despite a host of negative medical forecasts, and terminally embarrassed Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt), who's emerging from an awkward adolescence. When he's not taking care of the difficult but tender Arnie, Gilbert spends his time fixing up the family's tattered farmhouse, working at a failing mom-and-pop grocery store and hanging with local misfits Bobby (Crispin Glover), an overly ambitious junior undertaker, and Tucker (John C. Reilly), a handyman who hankers after a job at the new burger franchise. Into this complicated but essentially unchanging social universe steps Becky (Juliette Lewis), a thoughtful young woman who's been escorting her nomadic grandmother from state to state in a mobile-home caravan. As Becky teaches Gilbert to finally consider his own happiness for a change, she disrupts both his family obligations and his long-running affair with a lonely housewife (Mary Steenburgen).
• This film tells a story about Gilbert Grape. He is a grocery store worker who is burdened by his family's needs. He cares and provides for a intellectually disabled young adult brother and a morbidly obese mother. The Grape household has deteriorated since the suicide of their father and Gilbert bares the weight (no pun intended) of a struggling poor American family. In this tale, Gilbert has a string of risky affairs which complicates matters. This movie tells a more realistic version of the trials and tribulations of barely functioning family in the mid-west of America.
• Gilbert Grape (Depp) is a young man trapped in an eccentric family in a small American town. He works hard to care for his developmentally disabled teenage brother Arnie (DiCaprio), and their overweight mother (Cates) while trying to maintain their crumbling house. When Becky (Lewis) arrives in town, she befriends the Grape family and Gilbert develops feelings for her.
• In the small town of Endora, Iowa, Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is busy caring for his mentally disabled brother, Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio), as they wait for the many tourists' trailers to pass through town during their yearly camp ritual at a nearby recreational area. His mother, Bonnie (Darlene Cates) is morbidly obese after years of depression following her husband's suicide. With Bonnie unable to care for them by herself, Gilbert has taken responsibility for repairing their shanty of a farmhouse while looking after Arnie, who has a habit of climbing up the town water tower if left unsupervised for too long, all while his older sister Amy (Laura Harrington) and younger sister Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt) slave away in the kitchen. The relationship between the brothers is one of care and protection. In order to cope with his frenetic life, Gilbert has taken on a secret love affair with a housewife, Betty (Mary Steenburgen), whilst her insensitive, unsuspecting husband Ken (Kevin Tighe), is fully intent on selling Gilbert insurance for his family. A new chain supermarket has opened, threatening the small Lamson's Grocery store where Gilbert works, as well as threatening all the other small-time businesses in Endora. While the family prepares for Arnie's upcoming 18th birthday party, a young woman named Becky (Juliette Lewis) and her grandmother are stuck in town when their truck towing their trailer breaks down. Gilbert's unusual life circumstances threaten to get in the way of their budding romance. Gilbert's guilt is compounded by his family's anger. As a result, Arnie refuses to get near water, including the pond by Becky's trailer, and his fear causes him to become extremely dirty, adding to the many problems Gilbert faces. Betty's affair with Gilbert ends when she begins to make demands on him and tries to have sex with him while he's on the phone with her husband, Ken. Ken drowns after suffering a cardiac arrest and landing face down in his sons' wading pool. Many of the townspeople believe Betty killed her husband, despite the insistence of Gilbert's friend, Bobby McBurney (Crispin Glover), one of the town coroners, that believes it was a cardiac arrest. Betty eventually leaves town in search of a new life. Becky bonds with Gilbert and Arnie and helps Gilbert reflect on his feelings. They become deeply involved in conversation until Gilbert realizes that Arnie is missing. He has returned to the water tower he is forever trying to climb, and this time has succeeded at getting to the top. Arnie is arrested, compelling Bonnie, who has not left the house in seven years, to rush to the police station to demand his release, causing her appearance to be ridiculed by the townspeople. Later at home, Arnie prematurely eats some of his birthday cake, which Gilbert told him not to touch. Gilbert orders Arnie to take a bath as punishment, and Arnie resists when Gilbert tries to force him. Losing his temper, Gilbert strikes Arnie hard. Appalled at himself and angry at his life in general, Gilbert drives away, leaving Endora. Arnie leaves the house to find Becky, who takes care of him. Gilbert returns to town and sees Arnie with Becky, who is able to get him to enter the lake, thus overcoming Arnie's fear of water. After Amy and Ellen come to Becky's and take Arnie home, Gilbert approaches Becky and the two talk about his own frustration and the reality of his father's death. Following Arnie's eighteenth birthday and meeting Becky for the first time, Bonnie climbs the stairs to her bedroom for the first time in years. That evening she passes away in her bed. Arnie soon realizes what happened, runs out of the house and begins to hurt himself. Jerry, the local sheriff, and his deputies tell the Grape family that they would need more men to get Bonnie's heavy corpse out of the house. After the police leave, Gilbert and his sisters soon cry over losing her. The siblings realize that her removal would draw a gawking crowd and want to protect their mother from being a spectacle. They empty the house except for their mother's body, then Gilbert sets the house on fire, not willing to see a crane remove her and for the inevitable ridicule to ensue. One year later, Gilbert and Arnie are looking out again to watch the trailers pass. Through voice over, Gilbert tells of Amy getting a job offer to manage a bakery in Des Moines, and Ellen being thrilled to switch schools. Arnie chases the vehicles, arms flailing, excited to see Becky again. Along with Becky and her grandma, Gilbert and Arnie hit the road.

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Unraveling the Complexities of ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’

Although the ’90s are filled with several movies that garnered cult followings over the years, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) was one of the few critics’ favorites. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was directed by The Cider House Rules ‘ director, Lasse Hallström . The movie is based on Peter Hedges ‘ 1991 novel of the same name, who was also hired to write the film’s screenplay.

While What’s Eating Gilbert Grape received critical acclaim, it was a box-office bomb. However, with its home video releases, it achieved far greater success. The movie is a must-watch for coming-of-age drama audiences for its compelling story, amazing cast, and stellar performances. Here’s an in-depth look at What’s Eating Gilbert Grape ‘s plot, characters, and themes.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’s Plot Summary

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is set in the fictional small town of Endora, Iowa. The plot revolves around the titular character Gilbert Grape, who’s forced to shudder the responsibility of caring for his family after his father’s death. Besides having to provide for the family, Gilbert has to care for and protect his intellectually disabled younger brother, Arnie Grape. His mother, Bonnie Grape, is also morbidly obese.

The screenplay follows Gilbert’s struggles to provide for his family, his forbidden love affair with a married woman, a new love affair, and becoming overwhelmed by his shouldered responsibilities. With Gilbert’s mistaken neglect of Arnie, leading to Arnie’s arrest, his obese mother finally leaves the house for the first time in over seven years to demand his release. Having made peace with himself and his family, Gilbert and his siblings are able to help their mother find closure from their father’s death.

Afterward, Bonnie decides to climb upstairs to the bedroom she once shared with her husband (an act she hasn’t done since he died). That night, she dies on the bed. Rather than subject their mother to shame and mockery from the townsfolk, by using a crane to bring her obese body down, Gilbert, Arnie, and his sisters choose to burn the house down. With the death of their mother and the home destroyed, the siblings choose to move on with their lives and pursue individual interests.

Meet The Top Cast Of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

30-year-old Johnny Depp played the film’s lead character, Gilbert Grape. Leonardo DiCaprio , who was 17 years old at the time, played the supporting role of Arnie Grape. DiCaprio’s portrayal of the character received special praise from critics and audiences. To help him get into character, DiCaprio spent time in a mental home with mentally disabled teens. Beating Christian Bale to the role, DiCaprio received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the 66th Academy Awards and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture at the 51st Golden Globe Awards. Late Darlene Cates played the matriarch of the Grape family, Bonnie Grape. Mary Steenburgen played the married woman Gilbert was having an affair with, Elizabeth “Betty” Carver. His new love, Rebecca “Becky,” was played by Juliette Lewis , with Laura Harrington and Mary Kate Schellhardt playing Gilbert and Arnie’s sisters, Amy and Ellen Grape, respectively.

Themes Explored In What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape leaves viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, becoming one of the best emotional films of the early 90s. The film explores the themes of heartbreak and sadness. Although not introduced in the movie, Gilbert Grape’s father’s death left an indelible mark on the family. His suicide death left Bonnie Grape a shadow of herself. She deals with the trauma by sitting on the couch, eating, and watching television. Over the years, this has made her morbidly obese.

Without a father figure and guidance, Gilbert turns to having an affair with a married woman. Arnie, intellectually disabled, is fully dependent on Gilbert’s help. Arnie becomes aquaphobic when Gilbert forgets him in a bath to go and spend time with Becky. Overwhelmed by Arnie’s shortcomings, Gilbert finally snaps. At this point, viewers cannot help but feel sorry for Gilbert’s character.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape also explores the theme of redemption . Bonnie Grape finally finds acceptance and closure for the death of her husband. When Gilbert’s affair with Betty Carver ends, he finds a new love with Becky. Although Bonnie dies, Gilbert, Arnie, and their sisters find a new zeal to live life to its fullest.

Where To Watch What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

A 90s classic, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape , is one film everyone should watch. It’s available on all major streaming platforms. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape remains one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances in film.

Watch on: Netflix

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video

Watch on: Hulu

Onyinye Izundu (He/Him) is a writer at TVOvermind. With a particular interest in fantasy, including popular shows like House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power, and Games of Thrones, Onyinye enjoys watching movies and TV shows of various genres. Some of his all-time favorite films include Armageddon, Independence Day (starring Will Smith), Gladiator, and the movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 1-4 (still trying to wrap his head around the multiverse of Phase 5).

WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE

More Detail:

WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE is an offbeat slice-of-life drama sprinkled with humor to lend the serious issues a measure of charm, substantiated with incredible performances by Depp, DiCaprio and Lewis. Set in a small town called Endora, the film offers a rural look at a family caught in a dysfunctional existence. The father hanged himself in the basement years before, and the mother has been so depressed because of it that she has eaten herself to 500 pounds and has not left the house in seven years. The two teenaged sisters cook, clean and do the mother’s jobs, and Gilbert, the eldest son, takes care of his seventeen-year-old autistic, childlike brother, Arnie. Gilbert’s life changes when Becky’s tourist camper breaks down in town, and he starts to date her. In the process, he becomes aware that being in his family is like being in prison.

The movie has off-beat humor and style, but also shows a sensitivity to the autistic brother’s and mother’s situations. Johnny Depp’s performance as Gilbert is excellent as is Leonardo DiCaprio’s as the autistic brother. Although there are some questionable elements such as the hint of an affair between Gilbert and a lady friend and several kissing scenes, they are not offensive or crude. The film contains no nudity and no obvious sexual situations and is an enjoyable “slice-of-life” drama.

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Movie Review: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is Full of Emotions

Bria Garrett , Writer August 18, 2021 Leave a Comment

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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Warning – spoilers ahead!

This week, I have been watching lots of Netflix. I’ve started new shows, watched new movies, and rewatched many things. One new movie, that isn’t really new, is called What’s Eating Gilbert Grape .

Gilbert Grape, played by Johnny Depp, is a young adult who lives in a town called Endora in Iowa. He works in a grocery store to provide for his family. Gilbert’s family consists of his two younger sisters, Amy and Ellen, and his younger brother, Arnie, who is autistic. His mother, after grieving their father’s death, is unable to properly take care of her children.

After Gilbert’s father hung himself in the basement of their own home, Gilbert had to step up and become the man of their household. His mother was hit with so much shock and grief when her husband passed away that she overate so much and became obese over the years. She spent every day on their living room couch, unable to provide for her kids, resulting in Gilbert finding a job at a grocery store to provide for his family.

The second main focus of the movie is seventeen-year-old Arnie. Arnie, played by a young Leonardo DiCaprio, is autistic and relies on his older brother as his primary caretaker. Arnie likes to get into some trouble, so he follows Gilbert wherever he goes every day. Arnie turns 18 in the movie and has a big party planned. Arnie loves climbing and is often seen in a tree or climbing a water tower numerous times throughout the movie.

Gilbert meets a girl who is new to Endora, Becky. Becky spends most of her life traveling to new places while living with her grandmother in a trailer. Becky is seen riding her bike to lots of places, finding herself stumbling into Gilbert most days. One day, Gilbert has to deliver groceries to Becky and her grandmother’s trailer and realizes that he has feelings for her. He doesn’t admit, to himself or Becky, that he is falling for her until nearly the end of the movie.

Amy and Ellen spend their days around the house helping take care of their mother and providing for her needs. They make every meal and bring the table to her on the couch so they can still eat together as a family. Gilbert wishes that Ellen would finally grow up, as Ellen is pestering Arnie in most scenes.

The day of Arnie’s party was bittersweet. Their mother finally decided to leave the couch and go to the new bed that Amy built for her. She spends all of Arnie’s party from her bed spectating as she is seen as a joke and a laughing-stock to all of Endora. The kids finally start to become more of a family, and Gilbert and Becky are beginning to grow as a couple. Things seem to be looking up for the family.

Unfortunately, the night of Arnie’s party, their mother passed away in her bed, leaving the whole family devastated. The police have to leave the scene due to her being too heavy to remove from the house. Gilbert knew that once word spread that his mother died, everyone would crowd their home to see her being taken out of their house. Gilbert decides he won’t let everyone laugh at her, and the family burns the house with their mother’s deceased body inside.

Overall, the movie is very good. It portrays some serious topics and is aimed more at an older and more mature audience. A couple of scenes had me smiling, and then crying just seconds later.

Despite its age, it is definitely a movie to take a chance on.

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Hi, I'm Bria Garrett. This is my fourth year writing for the Cannelton HiLife. I participate in volleyball,...

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Directed by lasse hallstrom.

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a 1993 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, and starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Leonardo DiCaprio and John C. Reilly. The film follows the story of Gilbert, a 25-year-old grocery store clerk who is caring for his morbidly obese mother, as well as his mentally disabled younger brother, Arnie. The film takes place in the fictional rural town of Endora, Iowa.

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