What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
90%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 7 nominations total
It’s sentimental and somewhat predictable, but those are small complaints, given the tender atmosphere and moving performances at the heart of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a heartwarming and quirky film that will leave you feeling full of love and appreciation for family. Johnny Depp’s performance as the long-suffering Gilbert is tender and disarming, while Leonardo DiCaprio steals the show with his astonishing portrayal of a disabled young man. The film’s emphasis on character and texture is full of pleasurable rewards, and the bittersweet themes of hope, humility, and perseverance will leave you feeling satisfied. It’s a must-watch for anyone who loves movies about dysfunctional families and the true heroes who tend to misfits with love and tenacity. Plus, who doesn’t love a good slice of Americana?
Production Company(ies)
Rossen Films,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Denton, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for elements of mature subject matter
Year of Release
1994
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 58m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 1993 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 20, 2006
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Darlene Cates, Mary Steenburgen, Laura Harrington, directed by Lasse Hallström, written by Peter Hedges, produced by David Matalon, Bertil Ohlsson, Meir Teper, Comedy/Drama, PG-13, box office performance $7.8M, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Owen Gleiberman, David Ansen, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Richard Corliss, Janet Maslin, Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape, Juliette Lewis as Becky, Mary Steenburgen as Betty Carver, Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape, Darlene Cates as Bonnie Grape, Peter Hedges as writer
Worldwide gross: $10,032,765
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $20,297,541
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,706
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,213,472
US/Canada gross: $10,032,765
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $20,297,541
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,411
US/Canada opening weekend: $74,421
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $150,563
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,778
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $11,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $22,254,379
Production budget ranking: 1,314
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $11,983,983
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$13,940,821
ROI to date (est.): -41%
ROI ranking: 1,627
Juliette Lewis – Becky
Mary Steenburgen – Betty Carver
Leonardo DiCaprio – Arnie Grape
Darlene Cates – Bonnie Grape
Laura Harrington – Amy Grape
Lasse Hallström – Director
David Matalon, Bertil Ohlsson, Meir Teper – Producers
Peter Hedges – Writer
Director(s)
Lasse Hallström
Writer(s)
Peter Hedges, Peter Hedges
Producer(s)
David Matalon, Bertil Ohlsson, Meir Teper
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 7 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (51) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (5)
A blissful slice of Americana…
September 3, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Despite Depp’s tender melancholy, the performers who stay with you are those who dare to crack the surface of their characters’ alienation.
March 22, 2021 | Rating: B-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Depp is subtly winning as a man-child oblivious to his own pent-up rage. But the performance that will take your breath away is DiCaprio’s.
March 13, 2015
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Even if you have a taste as I do for movies about dysfunctional families, you may be a little put off by the Grapes.
February 8, 2010
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Suggests that the true heroes are those people who day by day must tend to misfits, and do so with love, tenacity and a determination not to go terminally sour in the process.
June 19, 2009
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Particularly impressive are the sweet, weirdly idyllic tone of Mr. Hallstrom’s direction and Johnny Depp’s tender, disarming performance as the long-suffering Gilbert Grape.
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Grape makes a lasting impression with its quirky performances and bittersweet themes of hope, humility and perseverance.
April 6, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Jack Hawkins
HeyUGuys
This emphasis on character and texture is full of pleasurable rewards-especially when the astonishing DiCaprio is on-screen-and there’s enough growth and compassion to keep it from being a Diane Arbus freak show come to life.
March 22, 2021
Ken Eisner
Georgia Straight
Although DiCaprio is the one who ends up getting more attention from the public due to the enormous performance, the movie gives life to a restrained Johnny Depp. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 28, 2019
Sergio Benítez
Espinof
Though it takes dark twists and turns to an inevitable climax, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape will leave you feeling full and satisfied with a renewed sense of the value in family.
July 3, 2019
Bree Duwyn
Film Inquiry
The realistic depiction of marginalized characters overcoming grief and accepting disabilities is what makes this film timeless.
October 17, 2018 | Rating: 9/10
Marisa Mirabal
Birth.Movies.Death.
Gilbert Grape has body and deep flavor, but it can be wonderfully dry too.
June 5, 2018
Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant…
Plot
What’s Eating Gibert Grape is a beautifully shot movie of tenderness, caring and self-awareness that is set amongst the fictional working class one street town Endora. Centred around the Grape family Ellen and Amy and their two brothers Arnie and Gilbert, who, along with their morbidly obese widowed mother Bonnie Grape are striving to survive and coexist with the absence of a father figure, low wage work and seventeen-year-old Arnie’s severe mental condition. It is in this awkward and extremely one sided affair that the unfortunate Gilbert has to constantly, while working for the town’s slowly dying convenience store, take care of his younger brother Arnie. Gilbert’s life, his future, is thwarted he knows this, but it is in this guardian angel that his love and bond for Arnie cannot, and will not, be let go. That is until the free spirit of Becky arrives in town, and with her grandmother are stranded for the week while waiting for parts for their vehicle. This realization unties new feelings, new thoughts and new hope for the put upon Gibert, something new is eating Gilbert Grape.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Arnie Grape, a young man with mental impairment, is widely praised and considered one of his breakthrough roles.
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