What's Eating Gilbert Grape

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) is set in a small Iowa town where nothing happens. That is precisely the subject. Gilbert carries his family: a mother who has not left the house in years, two sisters, and his brother Arnie, who has a learning disability. He works at the local grocery, wants to leave, and cannot. Then a girl whose caravan has broken down arrives in town. Leonardo DiCaprio was eighteen playing Arnie and it brought him his first Oscar nomination. The part could easily have become an impression. It does not: Arnie is never pitiable and never an object of charm, he is just a kid. Darlene Cates, who plays the mother, was not a professional actor and was found on a television programme. The film never makes her ridiculous, which was rare maturity for the period. Johnny Depp is here before stardom: quiet, tense, holding everything. Good for: slow drama, family stories, and nineties American independent cinema. Less good for: it is unhurried and the plot is thin. Death and the weight of caregiving both sit heavily in it. Not a light evening.