What's Eating Gilbert Grape

UPC: 097360421248

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Sexual Situations]

Summary: Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom's follow-up to the underrated Once Around earned far more attention than its predecessor thanks to the judicious casting of perennial thinking woman's heartthrob Johnny Depp and a certain up-and-coming thespian by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio. A prisoner of his dysfunctional family's broken dreams in tiny Endora, IA, Gilbert (Depp) serves as breadwinner and caretaker for his mother and siblings following his father's suicide and his older brother's defection. Momma (Darlene Cates) is a morbidly obese shut-in who hasn't left the house in seven years; her children include retarded Arnie (DiCaprio), who's about to turn 18 despite a host of negative medical forecasts, and terminally embarrassed Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt), who's emerging from an awkward adolescence. When he's not taking care of the difficult but tender Arnie, Gilbert spends his time fixing up the family's tattered farmhouse, working at a failing mom-and-pop grocery store and hanging with local misfits Bobby (Crispin Glover), an overly ambitious junior undertaker, and Tucker (John C. Reilly), a handyman who hankers after a job at the new burger franchise. Into this complicated but essentially unchanging social universe steps Becky (Juliette Lewis), a thoughtful young woman who's been escorting her nomadic grandmother from state to state in a mobile-home caravan. As Becky teaches Gilbert to finally consider his own happiness for a change, she disrupts both his family obligations and his long-running affair with a lonely housewife (Mary Steenburgen). Adapted by Peter Hedges from his own novel of the same name, What's Eating Gilbert Grape was the first and only film role for non-actress Cates, whom the filmmakers discovered on an episode of the Sally Jesse Raphael Show titled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House." ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null New Generation Award – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up) – National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – National Board of Review

Features: cc
Commentary by director Lasse Hallstr?m and writer Peter Hedges
The characters of Gilbert Grape
The voice of Gilbert Grape
Why we love Gilbert Grape
Original theatrical trailer
Photo gallery

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 06/20/2006

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 128 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- What's Eating Gilbert Grape
1. Opening Credits/The Yearly Ritual [:19]
2. Meet the Grape Family [3:46]
3. Arnie Climbs the Towers [4:25]
4. Delivery For Becky [3:03]
5. The Family Plans Arnie's 18th Birthday Party [5:11]
6. "Nobody Hurts Arnie" [5:17]
7. A Sunset Date With Becky [2:48]
8. Arnie Gets Arrested [:42]
9. The Burger Barn Grand Opening [7:18]
10. The Birthday Cake Compromise [2:07]
11. Gilbert Opens Up [5:53]
12. Arnie's Birthday [1:01]
13. Good-Bye Becky [7:06]
14. Mama Climbs the Stairs [7:51]
15. Cleansing Fire [7:58]
16. Becky's Comin' [7:58]
17. End Credits [3:11]

Brian J. Dillard

This tender but unflinching examination of the tension between individual happiness and family obligation neatly condenses a large ensemble, a lengthy backstory and a lot of subtext into two delightfully cinematic hours. Just a touch of voice-over from leading man Johnny Depp sets the stage for a story that is told from his character's viewpoint even as it takes in a host of supporting players and deals with such tangential issues as frustrated infidelity and the strip-malling of America. After his roguish turn in This Boy's Life, Leonardo DiCaprio made his name as a serious young actor with his top-notch work as the retarded Arnie; spot-on physical and vocal mannerisms broadcast DiCaprio's technical prowess, but his performance here has the sort of emotional undertow and sly, if childlike, intelligence that has eluded other actors as accomplished as Dustin Hoffman in similar roles. Non-actress Darlene Cates is fantastic as the manipulative yet ultimately dignified and sympathetic Momma, while the supporting cast, from John C. Reilly and Crispin Glover to Juliette Lewis and Mary Streenburgen, provides comic asides, thoughtful interludes, and catharsis upon command. In the end, though, it's Depp and director Lasse Hallstrom who hold it all together, the former actually using his soulful eyes instead of coasting on the beauty of his gravity-defying cheekbones, the latter deftly balancing pathos and contemplation and keeping his large cast and story in line. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Brady Coleman  Actor 
Cameron Finley  Actor 
Susan Loughran  Actor 
Mona Lee Fultz  Actor 
Joe Stevens  Actor 
Tim Green  Actor 
Gail Levin  Actor 
George Haynes  Actor 
Libby Villari  Actor 
Peter Hedges  Screenwriter 
Alan C. Blomquist  Executive Producer 
Lasse Hallström  Director 
Lasse Hallström  Executive Producer 
Björn Isfält  Composer (Music Score) 
Meir Teper  Producer 
Bertil Ohlsson  Producer 
David Matalon  Producer 
Alan Parker  Composer (Music Score) 
Johnny Depp  Actor 
Juliette Lewis  Actor 
Mary Steenburgen  Actor 
Leonardo DiCaprio  Actor 
Darlene Cates  Actor 
Laura Harrington  Actor 
Mary Kate Schellhardt  Actor 
Kevin Tighe  Actor 
John C. Reilly  Actor 
Crispin Glover  Actor 
Penelope Branning  Actor 

Country: USA