Rotten
Even if you have a taste as I do for movies about dysfunctional families, you may be a little put off by the Grapes.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Life is a terrible thing to sleep through.
1993 · 1h 58m · PG-13
Drama, Romance
Directed by
Lasse Hallström
Overview
Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.
Director and cast
- Lasse Hallström Director
- Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape
- Juliette Lewis as Becky
- Darlene Cates as Bonnie Grape
- Mary Steenburgen as Betty Carver
- Laura Harrington as Amy Grape
- Mary Kate Schellhardt as Ellen Grape
- John C. Reilly as Tucker Van Dyke
- Kevin Tighe as Ken Carver
- Crispin Glover as Bobby McBurney
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
90%
Tomatometer
Fresh
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.
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
Fresh
Particularly impressive are the sweet, weirdly idyllic tone of Mr. Hallstrom's direction and Johnny Depp's tender, disarming performance as the long-suffering Gilbert Grape.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
Fresh
Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom and his fine cast have endowed the story with a good deal of behavioral truth and unstressed comedy.
Todd McCarthy, Variety
Rotten
Director Lasse Halstrom and cinematographer Sven Nykvist do their best to disguise the predictability with their own grace notes. But all the music in the world can't hide a tone this false.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
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