Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Starring: Johnny Depp, Leonardo Dicaprio, Julitte Lewis

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is about a young, Gilbert, who works as a grocery store clerk in a little town called Endora. His father dies and ever since he’s been dead his mom never left the house again. We see she’s very fat. Gilbert and his two sisters have to constantly take care of here. Gilbert is the only one that works so he has to care for his mom and mental brother. All of this gets in the way when he meets a traveling lady and falls in love with her. Now Gilbert has to figure out what to do.

When the film starts, it’s a little slow but once we get introduced to the characters we’re in a ride. I love the story and premise of it. Gilbert has to care for his family and as we see him going to work and coming home to his large mom and mental brother, we see how hard it is for Gilbert. He’s basically become the man of the house. Now when he meets the girl he falls for, we can see how everything changes. Gilbert’s tired of taking care of  his family and just wants to travel with her. The only thing is I felt the love part was a little rushed. To me it felt like Gilbert meets this girl and they start fooling around. But other than that, the story is great and executed well also.

The acting is fantastic. This has to be one of Leonardo Dicaprio’s best performances. And Johnny Depp does a phonemal job too. Together they made this film great. The supporting actrs do a good job as well but I don’t think the movie would have been as good as it is without Depp and Dicaprio.

Overall it was a great film with characters that felt real. You can relate to Gilbert as he takes care of his family and especially when he meets the girl. This is a film you should see and it makes a great family flick for the weekend. You won’t be dissapointed.

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