Gilbert's life has been at a stand still since the day his father died and his mother became the town joke. His days consist of working in the struggling food mart in order to feed his mother's large appetite and taking care of his mentally handicapped brother. He's a young man stuck in a small town with big responsibilities...until he meets a girl who's just passing through.
What a great film! The story line is quietly captivating and you become swiftly invested in poor Gilbert's well being and in his siblings' well being too. But story line aside, to me the truly amazing thing about this movie is Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as Gilbert's mentally handicapped brother Arnie. Truly one of DiCaprio's best performances. Depp was alright, I much prefer him in the strange and disturbing characters he creates these days though. A really great movie to revisit at Redbox right now!
Motherly Advice: My filters were securely set to Medium for everything and I was saved from some swearing and sexual situations. Even with filtering you will be very aware of an affair going on between Gilbert and a married woman in town. A heavy make out scene is filtered but you'll still see a half second of them kissing before Gilbert makes a run for the door when her husband drives up to the house. Again, it's very obvious through out the movie that they're having an affair.
There is one intense scene where Gilbert has become increasingly stressed with all of his issues and is trying to give Arnie a much needed bath but Arnie doesn't want to. The two of them fight and Gilbert looses his temper and is rough with Arnie and then ends up hitting him. The movie makes a big deal out of this loss of temper and Gilbert is sick with guilt before returning to apologize and make things right with everyone.
Lastly, Gilbert's mother is morbidly obese and is apparently the town joke for it. This is a main theme and ultimately may be the answer to the movie's title so be aware of sensitive feelings on a topic like this going in. In the end, I'm going to put my personal stamp of approval on this one for ages 16 and up with a chat before hand about some of the content.
Danielle'- ClearPlay Fan of Grapes
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