Pun Salad

A long-ago present to another member of the Salad family, the DVD wound up in my collection, and I finally got around to watching it. Not bad, although I guess it's mainly aimed at the Y-chromosomeless demographic.

Johnny Depp plays the title character, and yes, Gilbert Grape is his real name. He's more or less trapped by his family obligations: his brother Arnie Grape (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is seriously mentally handicapped; his mother is morbidly obese and probably not all that mentally healthy either. Dad Grape is out of the picture (for reasons explained as the movie goes along). They live in a rotting farmhouse outside of the (fictional) small town of Endora, Iowa.

Gilbert's two sisters help out, but the situation is clearly one that breeds resentment and further dysfunction. Gilbert is carrying on an affair with Mrs. Betty Carver (Mary Steenburgen), and his life gets even more complicated when Becky arrives in town, stranded by the breakdown of her grandmother's vehicle. Becky is full of hippie wisdom, which she imparts, tediously, throughout the movie.

So: a bunch of stuff happens. It's not that interesting. There's symbolism out the wazoo, though. I can tell, because I nearly never notice symbolism; someone usually needs to point it out to me afterward. So if I notice it, it means the movie is really beating me over the head with it.

However: anyone who doubts that Leonardo DiCaprio is the Real Deal, actorwise, should check this movie out; he got a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his performance. (He didn't win, though; he could have been another data point in the "full retard" discussion between Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. in Tropic Thunder.)