Have you seen the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape? It's my favorite movie of all time.
It came out more than 30 years ago, but it's still shimmering — shimmering is the word Gilbert's mother uses to describe him, played by a young Johnny Depp. Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis also star in this movie. It may sound like an all-star cast now, but back then Leo wasn't famous and Johnny wasn't a huge star yet.
Leo plays Gilbert's brother Arnie, who has a mental disability. It was my first time seeing his acting, and I just couldn't believe such a young actor could pull off such a difficult role. Afterwards, he said that he enjoyed the role very much. He said the script didn't go into detail, and a large part of his acting was improvised.
And Johnny's touching and delicate acting is beyond words. The director, Lasse Hallström, said that Johnny had a lot in common with Gilbert. Every time I watch the movie, I discover something new in his acting.
The storyline is heavy, but at the same time, somewhat funny and refreshing. I don't watch a lot of movies, but I can watch my favorite movies repeatedly without getting bored. I'm planning to watch this movie over and over until I can imitate all the lines and use its words and phrases myself.
You can watch the full movie here:
I've never watched it because I can't stand JD, but maybe I'll give it a shot!
I'm not sure if you'll like it since you can't stand JD 😅, but Leo's acting is definitely worth watching. He actually spent time at a home with intellectually disabled kids to prepare and said it was really fun. I think that sensitivity of his brightens up this movie.
Never heard of this one. I also don't watch a lot of movies so I miss out on a lot of cultural references.
@schmamie Yeah, my cultural references are quite limited, but we’re limited anyway, so I really appreciate my little treasures.