No one should be the least surprised that Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio are two of today's premier actors - the talent of each was strikingly event 15 years ago when they costarred in this cinematic gem directed by Lasse Hallstrom when Depp was 29 and Leo 19, the latter playing an autistic teenager so convincingly that many thought he was the real thing - someone who'd been enlisted by Hallstrom to, in essence, play himself. Only those who'd seen Leo that same year of 1993 in his breakthrough role in THIS BOY'S LIFE opposite Robert DeNiro knew this kid, despite his years, was a consummate actor with a talent far beyond his actual age.

For his work in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE, playing the mentally-challenged Arnie Grape, Leo wet on to receive an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor, making him one of the youngest performers to  be nominated for a competitive Oscar. He has yet to win one (the winner in 1993 in that supporting actor category was Tommy Lee Jones in THE FUGITIVE), but Leo has since come close two more times, for 2004's THE AVIATOR and 2006's BLOOD DIAMOND. (Amazingly, considering that 1997's TITANIC made him a household name and pulled a record-equaling 14 Oscar nominations, it didn't net Leo himself a place on the nomination sheet.) 

His GILBERT GRAPE teammate Mr. Depp is, to date, also Oscarless, despite three nominations to his credit (for 2003's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, 2004's FINDING NEVERLAND, 2007's SWEENEY TODD). There's no question that the day will come when each of them with be holding gold statuettes, and one of the pleasures of GRAPE is the chance to see the two of them in the earliest stages of their climb up the Hollywood ladder. In a way, they're very much birds of a feather. Both determinedly march to their own drumbeats. Both are very selective in the choice of the roles they're willing to accept. Both, especially as they grow older and more powerful, chose scripts in which substance, not razzle-dazzle, is the key ingredient.

Above and beyond it's two stars, there is a great deal to enjoy about this movie, including it's solid-gold cast which includes Mary Steenburgen (someone who does have an Academy Award to her credit), also the always-interesting Juliette Lewis, the fascinating Crispin Glover and, in a small part, the future star and Academy Award nominee for his work as the woebegone Amos Hart, aka “Mr. Cellophane,” in 2002's CHICAGO, John C. Reilly.

1993. 118 minutes. Color. Producers: David Matalon, Bertil Ohlsson, Meir Teper. Director: Lasse Hallstrom. Screenplay: Peter Hedges, based on his novel. Cinematography: Sven Nykvist.  Editior: Andrew Mondshein. Production design: Bernt Capra. Costumes: Renee Ehrlich Kalfus.  Cast: JOHNNY DEPP, LEONARDO DeCAPRIO, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Darlene Cates, Laura Harrington, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Tim Green.  Released by Paramount.