What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Written by GenerationofSwine on January 11, 2023

So, I had no idea who Leonardo was when I saw this back in the 90s, it was before Titanic, before he made it big, and I thought they hired an intellectually disabled man to play the part.

And it dropped in '93 so that would make Dicaprio about 19? Maybe 18 when they made it?

I doubt they would give an Oscar to a kid that young, but see that he's CLEARLY not Intellectually Disabled and how believable he was, well, that's probably one of the best performances I've seen. That was Oscar worthy.

Besides that, it was really a Johnny Depp vehicle... as much as a 90s indy film can be, and he played a calm, low key, and utterly charming role in a film about a man that had to maybe grow up too fast and deal with too much at too young an age.

And, of course, a charming little love story. A charming story about family. About loyalty.

There is honestly absolutely nothing to criticize here, except, it's certainly a 90s story, a 90s movie, and if you are removed from Gen-X, it might not have the appeal. This isn't the over-the-top FX sort of films that are a hallmark of the Millennial generation...

...but beyond that, KUDOS to Leo for nailing it as such a young age, and a cheers to everyone else involved for making a brilliant and entertaining hidden gem of a film