Review XLII - What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Review XLII
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Probably about four or five years ago, I started watching 21 Jump Street. For those of you who automatically thought of the film that came out last year, I will kill you. Anyway, the series that ran in the late eighties and early nineties wasn't that good; however, it will always be remembered because it is what really got Johnny Depp's career going (even if he hated the show). Around this time, I caught a viewing of Lasse Hallström's film adaptation of Peter Hedges' novel What's Eating Gilbert Grape. It had Johnny Depp in it (and Leonardo DiCaprio), so I thought I'd give it a shot. I remember it really left a mark - so much so I bought the book, and since then, that book has become one of my favourite all-time reads. I've read it probably three or four times (it's an easy read, so that's probably the reason why, heh). But I could barely remember the movie. I finally downloaded it yesterday after reading the book for the fourth or so time to see how well it still held up. Oh man, I'm going to have fun writing this review.

Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is stuck in Endora, Iowa, United States - a town where everyone knows everyone. He dreams of bigger and better places, but he's caged in the town awaiting his mentally handicapped brother's (Leonardo DiCaprio) eighteenth birthday as no one thought he would make it this far. He also has to deal with his grossly overweight mother (Darlene Cates), his overbearing older sister (Laura Harrington), and his overemotional younger sister (Mary Kate Schellhardt). When a new girl, Becky (Juliette Lewis), is stranded in town with her grandmother (Penelope Branning), Gilbert has hope that maybe - just maybe - he can finally find happiness.

While I love watching really good movies, I love criticising bad ones. It's a pain to sit down and feel like you're wasting an hour and a half of your time, but when I sit down to write about a movie, when I have a film that allows me to complain about it, I find it a lot more exciting. I say this because, my god, I could complain about this movie for ages. Last time I watched it, I remember being super emotional about the ending. This time, I did go away emotional, but in a humourous manner.

Okay, let me actually review this. First off, and I know this is such a common statement that is seems superfluous and redundant to mention, but it was way worse than the book. The book had feeling, character, and this plot had none of that. It took out so many elements I liked. I loved the desperation Gilbert felt in the books in relation to Becky constantly rejecting his physical hints. In the film, she just kisses him. What happened to all the "inner beauty" and "inner feelings" she claims in the book? Heck, in the movie, she even says, not verbatim, "Physical beauty doesn't matter. We get all wrinkly and ugly..." They take a stab at what was present in the book, but then it's never mentioned again. Peter Hedges, who wrote the book, also wrote the screenplay for the movie, so I have no idea what happened. It's not like this film was really pressed for time - it included a lot of pretty boring scenes where nothing happens. Scenes that could have been replaced with the meaningful, interesting parts that were present in the book. For example, Becky and Gilbert just... walking. Yep, I love seeing the attraction in their eyes. I love watching Becky comment on the sky, and Gilbert just agreeing. Totally encompasses the knowledgeable Becky and naive Gilbert seen in the book!

Gilbert's mother, whose name is Bonnie Grape, is also sympathetic and kind-hearted. I liked the crass lady who, while she loved her children, really only showed caring to Arnie. Gilbert hates this woman in the book (without ruining anything), and here, the two share moments. This makes their relationship so linear and boring. Not to mention that Bonnie Grape never really seemed to be the wiser of what was happening except for the given occasion. In the movie, she's always complaining to Gilbert about his behaviour. The two don't fight really, which again, makes it way less interesting than in the book.

Amy and Ellen, Gilbert's sisters, don't get much screentime either. Amy was the real mother figure to everyone, but in the movie, she's useless. I also enjoyed Ellen and Gilbert's bittersweet relationship in the book. Is it present in the movie? It is, but not that much. They don't really have outbursts - the two just don't always get along. When they do get angry, it seems unnatural. Not to mention that they take out one whole sister, Janice, from the book, and while Larry, the older brother, is mentioned, he's never seen. "This is Larry, but he got out." Alright, fine, but he's supposed to come once a year, which is on Arnie's birthday. Do we see him? Nope. I mean, c'mon, he got out, so why would he ever come back? Why would he even care about his handicapped brother who has lived eight years longer than anyone ever thought possible? Why would he care to see how his family is doing considering their father died when most of them were young and one wasn't even conceived yet? Why bother mentioning him if we never see him? I just don't get it.

Another thing I disliked was the relationship Gilbert has with his two "friends", Tucker (John C. Reilly) and Bobby (Crispin Glover). Again, nothing happens with them. Tucker helps Gilbert out, and Bobby... eats at a restaurant with both of them. Again, there was meaning to their characters in the books; Tucker and Bobby eventually kept to themselves, leaving Gilbert pretty much alone, aside from Becky. Here they're just his friends, but I guess if you hadn't read the book, this could go by alright. Which leaves me with the adulterous affair Gilbert has with Betty Carver (Mary Steenburgen). This I can't complain about. It was executed pretty well in comparison to the book. Obviously the book has more time to go in detail, but the movie did a pretty good job. Bravo to that at least!

Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of a mentally handicapped person, and while his acting is realistic, everyone else is bland as all hell. Johnny Depp sounds bored out of his skull everytime he utters a line. Juliette Lewis portrays Becky as an idiot. Becky's lines were garbage, but I got the impression that Juliette Lewis was inebriated the whole time. Everyone else is just like Johnny Depp - boring. I felt like stuff should be happening, but even when someone was emotional, it was bland. Mary Kate Schellhardt and Laura Harrington weren't that bad, but most of the time, they're just playing an aggitated person, so their acting was pretty boring too! Mary Steenburgen has something going on at least, but even then, it seems like it could way better. Nonetheless, at least I felt something for her, instead of just sleeping through everyone else's performance. Maybe this is why I didn't mind Betty and Gilbert's scenes together.

While the movie was really bad in comparison to the novel, it was still bad on its own. The acting was really, really boring, the plot had parts in it that seemed unnecessary, and Gilbert and Becky's relationship just seems so... nothing. The book made you feel more human - this movie just leaves me with the message that you shouldn't laugh at fat people because it hurts their feelings. As much as I "ranted" about this film, it wasn't the worst, so it gets six point eight stars on ten. It gave me something enjoyable, and that was a criticism of practically everything. For that, it gets a passing grade and then some.

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Review XXXV - Django Unchained

Review XXXV
Django Unchained (2012)

Happy new year to everyone! I decided to start out 2013 by watching a Quentin Tarantino film, and it was his latest theatrical release, Django Unchained. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others.

The film begins with a scene of a group of black slaves being forced to walk in chains across the country. While being transported by their owners, the Speck brothers (James Remar and James Russo), they are stopped by a man who appears to be a dentist, the German Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). He asks the slaves which one worked for the Brittle brothers previously. Django (Jamie Foxx) is that man, and after quite a persuasive argument with the Speck brothers (cough), Dr. Schultz buys Django. Dr. Schultz reveals himself to be a bounty hunter (he hadn't practised dentristry in five years) and explains there is a bounty on the Brittle brothers, but as he does not know what they look like, he is in need of Django's help. Django agrees, and a partnership is formed. However, Djanhgo's main goal is to find the man who bought his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). This turns out to be Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a plantation owner and Mandingo enthusiast, and Django will stop at nothing to retrieve his wife back.

The first thing I want to talk about, no, need to talk about, is the soundtrack. If there's one thing Quentin Tarantino can do right in his movies (and, in my opinion, he does many "right" things, but anyway), it would be the music he chooses. The film is a Western, and music from several Spaghetti Westerns are taken, but there also some R&B and hip pop, which may sound inappropriate, but it worked well in this film. The film was enjoyable even just for the music. It worked well with each scene, and while it was jarring to just cut off the wonderful music after a scene was done (slight exaggeration) which seemed to happen often, it was superb.

Now for the film itself. I thought the story was interesting. It takes on a different light on the slave trade that occurred in the United States, similar to that of how Inglourious Basterds took World War II in a different light in relation to the Jews. Obviously there still exists some more realistic elements to the film (e.g. the language used and violence the blacks endured), but this is Quentin Tarantino's depiction of it, in a sense. It's definitely original, but what more can we expect from this director? If you've seen any Quentin Tarantino movie, you know he takes the B-movie element of originality and brought it into the mainstream media with near perfect success. I'm over-praising, sorry. The story is a love story, but the main theme is slave exploitation. It's always present, it's always there, but with a twist. How many times have I said "twist" and "light" in this paragraph? Too many. It's a Western, so it has violence in it, obviously, and let's just add the fact that it is a Quentin Tarantino movie, so while there is gore, it's overdone to make it comical. The film also had its taste of black (ahhh, pun intended!) and dark humour, which makes you laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation. I love dark humour, and this film had just the right amount.

The acting. Well, I don't really think I need to go in detail. Look for yourself - Jamie Foxx (won an Oscar), Christoph Waltz (won an Oscar, and he's Austrian - yes, I am totally of Austrian/German/Lithuanian descent partly), Leonardo DiCaprio (nominated for an Oscar three times), and Samuel L. Jackson (nominated for an Oscar). Hell, throw away the Oscar and other awards bit, and I'm sure you can name them in multiple films you enjoyed. These people can act, thus it's only expected that they would do wonderfully in their roles. They did. Jamie Foxx is a strong character who is haunted by the memory of his wife and forced to succumb to the segregated and racist Southern peoples and laws. Christoph Waltz plays a sympathetic and apathetic man who doesn't care about the colour of your skin, but, rather, cares about the justice he sees fit. Leonardo DiCaprio comes off, to me, as slightly caring towards the black population, but that slight care only goes to the exceptional - the one in 10 000. Truly a passionate play. Samuel L. Jackson is, well, a jerk, but he plays him well. He's in a good place in his life and will never give it up. He reminded me a bit of Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks. Not to the extreme of hating the blacks and praying to be white, but still speaking down to them. The other actors who took on the roles of being racist Southerns (like Don Johnson, for example) did a great job as well. Kerry Washington, well, it's hard to praise considering she wasn't a protagonist in the film - more of an objective, and please, I did not mean that offensively. Still, she nonetheless proved a good actress in the intense scenes she was in. She also spoke German wonderfully!

I wrote a lot more than I normally do. Sorry about that... I'd give the film eight point two stars on ten. The plot was great, though the film did feel like it was dragging near the end. It could have been wrapped up earlier on, but the ending itself was still good - typical Quentin Tarantino, but I suppose that alone could tell you whether or not this film is for you.