Two cinematic morsels
His younger brother Artie (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mentally retarded and wasn't supposed to live past 10. Now his 18th birthday is only a few days away and Gilbert takes care of him in place of his parents.
His father left years ago, and his once-beautiful mother gained an unthinkable number of pounds in the aftermath. Played by Darlene Cates, she is too large to walk around, much less leave the house. Gilbert's sister takes care of her needs.
He has a romance or two, one with a married woman, one with a girl (Juliette Lewis) who has to stay in town until her grandmother's camper is repaired. But this movie isn't about romance; Gilbert has lived his life accepting the burden his family puts on him, and the film traces how this gradually wears him down.
He always has to keep an eye on his brother, occasionally having to convince the sheriff not to arrest Artie whenever he climbs the town water tower.
He is ashamed of his mother and even makes his own jokes about her to add to the town's long list. All this, plus a big birthday bash for Artie to worry about, begins to get to him.
DiCaprio's portrayal of Artie is nothing short of stunning. This newcomer earned an Academy Award nomination for this role, and though it's unlikely that he will win it this year, one would hope that he'll get more chances in the future to show his talent.
The down-to-earth characters and its unusual climax give the film a same feeling a book by Faulkner would give. The ending is very satisfying and doesn't insult the viewer with some 20-year narration of how the characters turn out. What's Eating Gilbert Grape is well-written, well-acted and certainly worth seeing.
GUARDING TESS
Doug is a Secret Service agent who has spent the past three years guarding widowed first lady Tess Harper (Shirley MacLaine). But in Nowhere, Ohio, the only thing to protect her from is bee-stings. Unfortunately, Tess has no respect for Doug (Nicholas Cage) or the six other Secret Service agents assigned to her, and lets them know it whenever she can.
So, at the beginning of the film, when Doug's tour with her is finally over, he's more than happy to go to Washington for a new, more active assignment.
That is, until the head of the Secret Service tells him that Tess has asked the president, who owes her a lot politically, to assign him back to her.
So begins the series of power struggles between protector and protectee that make Guarding Tess a delightful film.
Tess makes her protectors run errands, fetch her food, and do other menial tasks. She treats them no differently than her other servants, and whenever they complain too much, she picks up the phone to the White House.
Nicholas Cage, a consistently fine actor, does well as the frustrated young agent. He's not about to give in to Tess's manipulations and fights back whenever she lays it on.
The climax is a bit surprising, though it is mildly melodramatic. The ending is no surprise, but it doesn't hurt the film's effect. Writer-director Hugh Wilson and the actors handle the formula so well that the audience is willing to forget for a while that they saw it coming.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 18, 1994 issue.
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