Gilbert has many duties, he has to take care of his brother and plump mother, but lately he can’t make time for his private life, ever since the entry of his love in his life.
Hallström's finally struck a chord with the Americans, though it's much the same cocktail of whimsy and worry, the eccentric and the banal, that he's been mixing all along.
Hallstrom finds the right bittersweet tone for his dysfunctional family tale (and one of Hollywood's few films about obesity), marvelously acted by Johnny Depp and particularly Leonardo DiCaprio in his second outing as a retarded adolescent.
Suggests that the true heroes are those people who day by day must tend to misfits, and do so with love, tenacity and a determination not to go terminally sour in the process.
There is not much plot to speak of, but the film instead presents a moody, elegiac atmosphere of longing and desperation that is powerfully tangible ....
A challenging look at the ups and downs of family.
Video-Reviewmaster.com
March 08, 2008
Quite wonderful character study, great acting turns by Depp and DiCaprio, among others.
New York Times
May 20, 2003
Particularly impressive are the sweet, weirdly idyllic tone of Mr. Hallstrom's direction and Johnny Depp's tender, disarming performance as the long-suffering Gilbert Grape.
Variety
February 13, 2001
Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom and his fine cast have endowed the story with a good deal of behavioral truth and unstressed comedy.
Film4
June 19, 2009
It's as fascinating to see DiCaprio before he became a bona fide star as it is to watch Depp at the very moment he cemented his reputation for coolness.