A young man tries to take care of his family after his father died. His mother is morbidly obese and his younger brother is mentally disabled. A young woman arrives in the area and forms a relationship with the main character.
Very good and very much of the time. There are 2 points I want to make clear: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio is actually only slightly retarded. 2. The mother, Bonnie (Darlene Cates) is not in acting, but was recruited because of her weight, to fit the role. There were some plot points to discuss as well. I liked Gilbert sneaking a repair man in to reinforce the floor under his mother's couch and sneaking to the chain store to buy a cake, but being caught by his boss of the local grocery store. I did not like the solution to the ending conflict and would have handled the problem differently, but it did lead the main characters to a life of vagrancy, which I approve of. It has been said that DiCaprio's performance can be difficult to watch and I agree. He seems to play the role too well and we all know he went on to star in Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997). We need to differentiate intelligence and greed. Using your "pretty boy" appearance to star in major Hollywood films that make lots of money is greed. I rate this adequate because it's a great film, but can be disturbing to watch.
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