Experiments With Narrative....

Leo's other oscar nomination..

Today I watched another film I hadn't seen since it was in the theatre back in 1993, What's Eating Gilbert Grape? starring Leonardo DiCaprio (who was nominated for best supporting actor), Johnny Depp, and Juliette Lewis. Living in cities like New York or Los Angeles its sometimes hard to imagine that there are being out there living a life that is going nowhere. But this movie captured that beautifully, considering all the heartbreak that goes along with that sort of existance. It's the story of a family's ups and downs, a mother that won't leave her house since the suicide of her husband (which leads to her becoming incredibly obese), Arnie the son who is mentally handicapped and relies on the help of his family to do everything and stay out of trouble, and caring but overly burdened Gilbert who starts out ashamed of his mother but by the end of the film accepts who she is and stops laughing at her. Everyone seems to need Gilbert for something and it seems he will never leave the town. So when a young lady comes and her grandmother come to town and their trailer breaks down, its his saving grace. Gilbert and Becky develop a relationship which takes him away from many of his problems. After the death of his mother, Arnie and Gilbert join Becky when she once again drives through town (as the trailers do every year at the same time).

This was an incredibly touching story, and it's no wonder that Leo was nominated for his brilliant portrayal of the charming yet damaged soul, Arnie.

posted by Kevin V. @ 6:04 PM