What's Eating Gilbert Grape

There was an incredible overload of movies lined up for release last sum­mer. So many, in fact, that the studios are still releasing them. What's Eating Gilbert Grape has been stewing in the limbo that exists between limited screenings and the video store since last June. It has only now gained wide-release sta­tus, due to the surprise Oscar nomination of Leonardo DiCaprio for best supporting actor. Otherwise, these grapes would be rot­ting on a shelf at Blockbuster.

The long wait to see this movie has been less than worth it, however. This pastoral tale about small-town, dead-end melancho­lia take forever to deliver a Generation X variation on The Last Picture Show, minus Ben Johnson and the movie theater setting. What it does offer is a rural family with a fruity name, a missing father, a humongous mother, a sampling of mild-mannered but confused youths and some great shots of Texas standing in for Iowa.

Johnny Depp brings his usual blankness to the character of Gilbert Grape, who's the sole source of support for his odd family. His mother has slid completely into a fat-laden depression as a result of father Grape's desertion, and his two sisters have become a Jekyll-and-Hyde pairing of bitterness and nurturing. Then there's his younger brother Arnie (DiCaprio), a severely retarded boy with an unexplained obsession for climbing water towers.

Gilbert also has romantic problems. He's grown disinterested in his affair with the local lust-driven, middle-aged housewife (Mary Steenburgen) and finds himself slow­ly (very slowly) becoming involved with a young girl (Juliette Lewis) who's traveling with her grandmother in a camper.

The whole film plays like a college grad­uate's first novel, and Lasse Hallstrom's direction lingers way too long on every minor point. Only the excellent photogra­phy by Sven Nykvist ultimately maintains one's interest.