Search - What's Eating Gilbert Grape on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1993 DVD Release: 11/27/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 57 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 22 Genres: Drama, Americana, Coming-of-Age, Slice of Life See Also: What's Eating Gilbert Grape [Special Collector's Edition], What's Eating Gilbert Grape [Special Collector's Edition]

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom's follow-up to the underrated Once Around earned far more attention than its predecessor thanks to the judicious casting of perennial thinking woman's heartthrob Johnny Depp and a certain up-and-coming thespian by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio. A prisoner of his dysfunctional family's broken dreams in tiny Endora, IA, Gilbert (Depp) serves as breadwinner and caretaker for his mother and siblings following his father's suicide and his older brother's defection. Momma (Darlene Cates) is a morbidly obese shut-in who hasn't left the house in seven years; her children include retarded Arnie (DiCaprio), who's about to turn 18 despite a host of negative medical forecasts, and terminally embarrassed Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt), who's emerging from an awkward adolescence. When he's not taking care of the difficult but tender Arnie, Gilbert spends his time fixing up the family's tattered farmhouse, working at a failing mom-and-pop grocery store and hanging with local misfits Bobby (Crispin Glover), an overly ambitious junior undertaker, and Tucker (John C. Reilly), a handyman who hankers after a job at the new burger franchise. Into this complicated but essentially unchanging social universe steps Becky (Juliette Lewis), a thoughtful young woman who's been escorting her nomadic grandmother from state to state in a mobile-home caravan. As Becky teaches Gilbert to finally consider his own happiness for a change, she disrupts both his family obligations and his long-running affair with a lonely housewife (Mary Steenburgen). Adapted by Peter Hedges from his own novel of the same name, What's Eating Gilbert Grape was the first and only film role for non-actress Cates, whom the filmmakers discovered on an episode of the Sally Jesse Raphael Show titled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Johnny Depp - Gilbert Grape
Juliette Lewis - Becky
Mary Steenburgen - Betty Carver
Leonardo DiCaprio - Arnie Grape
Darlene Cates - Momma

Lasse Hallstrom's quirky What's Eating Gilbert Grape comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround. English subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials are limited to a theatrical trailer. This disc does a spectacular job of presenting the film, but there is little to offer other than that. The film's fans will appreciate this disc, but there may not be enough here to interest the average DVD consumer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide