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1993: What's Eating Gibert Grape
I've started to reboot this thread after deciding the rest of my 90's picks and half of my '80's picks.
My runner-up this in this year is Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. I only began to respect and like SL recently, so I decided it was too soon to choose as my best of the year. The one other film that was a contender was Spielberg's other '93 flick Jurassic Park, which I have declared to be his last great blockbuster film. Other '93 films I enjoy are True Romance, Groundhog Day, The Firm, The Fugitive, Mrs. Doubtfire & Cliffhanger. I liked Falling Down, although not as much as others. All in all, a good year for film.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape opens with a young man standing on the side of the highway with his younger brother, obviously waiting for something. The younger brother is growing impatient, but suddenly, a cavalcade of shiny caravans appear riding along the highway. His younger brother is instantly excited and jumps with joy. This man is Gilbert Grape and his younger brother is Arnie, a teenager with a developmental disability. They live a quiet, uneventful life in Endora, a town where "nothing much ever happens". That is until, Becky arrives in town when her grandmother's caravan breaks down.
WEGG is simply put, a nice film. It has no real major events, apart from some of Arnie's playful escapades. Instead, it is a poignant experience, offering beautifully touching moments and deeply portrayed emotions from each main character. It doesn't have what Schindler has in terms of filmmaking, but in terms of emotion development, this character study has bucketloads.
Gilbert is unhappy. It's definitely clear from his facial expressions and tone of voice. He has no real purpose, except for taking care of Arnie, a job which he does take on with a certain paternal state of behaviour. His life is most definitely changed with the arrival of Becky, his "release", someone who frees him from the boundaries which his life, job and family bestow upon him.
I especially like his character change around the middle of the film. Of course, Depp is excellent in his subtle performance and creates the quiet center of the film.
But, however much you love the script, direction or characters in this film, there's no going past Leonardo DiCaprio's career best performance as Arnie. DiCaprio perfectly captures every aspect of his character in his brilliant performance. He is heartbreaking and deeply convincing as Arnie, a character who can't help but tug at your heartstrings. I love DiCaprio's performance in this film and he is probably the main reason I love it so much.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape is admittedly slow paced and lacks any real events or climaxes, but works as a moving character piece. Stunning performances from it's two leads drive it to excellence.
+
Sorry about the short review, but there's not really much I can say about this film other than what I've said here.
I've started to reboot this thread after deciding the rest of my 90's picks and half of my '80's picks.
My runner-up this in this year is Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. I only began to respect and like SL recently, so I decided it was too soon to choose as my best of the year. The one other film that was a contender was Spielberg's other '93 flick Jurassic Park, which I have declared to be his last great blockbuster film. Other '93 films I enjoy are True Romance, Groundhog Day, The Firm, The Fugitive, Mrs. Doubtfire & Cliffhanger. I liked Falling Down, although not as much as others. All in all, a good year for film.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape opens with a young man standing on the side of the highway with his younger brother, obviously waiting for something. The younger brother is growing impatient, but suddenly, a cavalcade of shiny caravans appear riding along the highway. His younger brother is instantly excited and jumps with joy. This man is Gilbert Grape and his younger brother is Arnie, a teenager with a developmental disability. They live a quiet, uneventful life in Endora, a town where "nothing much ever happens". That is until, Becky arrives in town when her grandmother's caravan breaks down.
WEGG is simply put, a nice film. It has no real major events, apart from some of Arnie's playful escapades. Instead, it is a poignant experience, offering beautifully touching moments and deeply portrayed emotions from each main character. It doesn't have what Schindler has in terms of filmmaking, but in terms of emotion development, this character study has bucketloads.
Gilbert is unhappy. It's definitely clear from his facial expressions and tone of voice. He has no real purpose, except for taking care of Arnie, a job which he does take on with a certain paternal state of behaviour. His life is most definitely changed with the arrival of Becky, his "release", someone who frees him from the boundaries which his life, job and family bestow upon him.
I especially like his character change around the middle of the film. Of course, Depp is excellent in his subtle performance and creates the quiet center of the film.
But, however much you love the script, direction or characters in this film, there's no going past Leonardo DiCaprio's career best performance as Arnie. DiCaprio perfectly captures every aspect of his character in his brilliant performance. He is heartbreaking and deeply convincing as Arnie, a character who can't help but tug at your heartstrings. I love DiCaprio's performance in this film and he is probably the main reason I love it so much.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape is admittedly slow paced and lacks any real events or climaxes, but works as a moving character piece. Stunning performances from it's two leads drive it to excellence.
+Sorry about the short review, but there's not really much I can say about this film other than what I've said here.