Poor Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp), stuck in a dead end town with no jobs and no sign of leaving. Life's been tough on him, his father committed suicide when he was ten, his brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio) has a serious mental handicap, his mother's grossly obese leaving him to earn the bread and take care of his family. That's a lot of pressure for a 24 year old grocery delivery boy, but family is the most important thing to Gilbert, but it leaves him no time for himself.
Enter Becky (Juliette Lewis). She and her grandmother are a part of a trailer convoy that travels across country during the summer months, only their truck breaks down in Gilbert's little town. Gilbert is instantly smitten with the new stranger and his life takes a drastic turn... not for the worse or the better, but down the same line just the opposite way.
With the new girlfriend, working for a doomed business, and Arnie's 21st birthday coming up, Gilbert has more to do than ever, and he finally snaps. But everything works out for the best in the end... only his mother dies, but that turns out to be a good thing... sorta.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a beautiful movie. It's touching, funny, sad, and uplifting at different points throughout. It's the rollercoaster of life we all live, only it's a little bit different for Gilbert, his ups mean a lot more, and his downs aren't so bad. Leonardo DiCaprio is magic as Arnie, a performance which made him a rising Hollywoodstar, and Johnny Depp is great as Gilbert. Mary Steenburgen puts in an excellent performance as a wife having an affair with Gilbert, and Juliette Lewis performs well in her role, but we didn't see her enough.