History Film / WhatsEatingGilbertGrape

* OneBookAuthor: Darlene Cates' only theatrically-released acting role during her lifetime[[note]]she appeared in the 2017 movie ''Billboard'', which was released after her death[[/note]]. As described under HeReallyCanAct, she was cast through Sally Jessy Raphael's show, because they couldn't find a real actress large enough to fit the role.

* SuperDrowningSkills: Arnie fears that he has this and refuses to go in or near water after he is left in a bathtub all night and almost drowns.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After climbing to her original bedroom for the first time, Bonnie dies in her sleep... with Arnie discovering her body... still on his 18th birthday. In order to spare their mother from becoming the town joke, the Grape children decide to burn their house with her inside. A year later, the Grape children's lives have brightened up - Amy has a job in a bakery. Ellen is switching schools, and both Gilbert and Arnie are picked up by Becky and her grandmother so they can travel with them.]]

* TheGhost: Larry, another one of the Grape children. He's only mentioned once in the beginning, along with a picture of him shown (again only once).

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the beginning of the movie, Arnie - the mentally challenged young man - kills a grasshopper by beheading it, and then cries to Gilbert about it[[note]]Leonardo De Caprio did accidentally kill the grasshopper, despite people from animal protection supervising[[/note]]. Later on in the movie, Gilbert loses his cool - leading him to slap Arnie around, after being so protective of him.

One of the main difficulties the family is having concerns Arnie Grape (Di Caprio), who is developmentally disabled which creates a great deal of problems for everyone involved, especially the multiple times he climbs the town water tower and refuses to come down for anyone except his brother Gilbert.

Gilbert ends up chafing against his role as the new man of the house, along with having to find his way through some romantic tensions between a married woman and a frequent traveller who just arrived in town (Lewis), the preparations for a grand party for Arnie's 18th Birthday, his morbidly obese mother's declining health, and his ambition for a career and a future.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Grapes. Though it's clear that they all love one another despite their flaws.
* BigSleep: [[spoiler:Bonnie goes upstairs to her bedroom for the first time in ages, goes to sleep in her bed and dies there.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After climbing to her original bedroom for the first time, Bonnie dies in her sleep...with Arnie discovering her body...still on his 18th birthday. In order to spare their mother from becoming the town joke, the Grape children decide to burn their house with her inside. A year later, the Grape children's lives have brightened up - Amy got a job in a bakery. Ellen is switching schools. And both Gilbert and Arnie are picked up by Becky and her grandmother so they can travel with them.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The ''[[Pinball/{{Fire}} Fire!]]'' {{pinballl}} game that Arnie plays in the cafe [[spoiler:is a hint of how the family eventually deals with Bonnie's obese corpse.]]

* GracefulLoser: Mrs. Carver graciously handing Gilbert to Becky, knowing she has the youth and joyful-heart to give him the happiness she never could.

* IWasQuiteALooker: Bonnie Grape, in a picture (a real picture of the actress), taken before she gained the weight.

** The kids of Endora likes to hang around the Grape residence, hoping to have a chance to catch a glimpse of, and laugh at the morbidly obese Bonnie. Curiously enough, they are never shown to bully Arnie, and are actually very accepting of him.
** It's implied at the end that Ellen herself was anxious to switch schools; probably not many friends to leave behind if she was constantly teased. By the way she treats Arnie throughout the movie, Ellen was most likely teased in his and her mother's account.

* LetThePastBurn: [[spoiler:The family's solution to how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse at the end of the film: light the house on fire to burn, along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation. In this case the fire symbolises protection.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Discussed by Gilbert's friends about Mr. Carver (who also happens to be offering Gilbert a job while his wife tries to get Gilbert to sleep with her) after he drowns to death in a kiddy pool party, argued to be subverted because he had a heart attack that caused him to collapse in such a way that he drowned in a kiddy pool.
** Actually, while it appeared that way, Carver wasn't offering him a job, ironically he was trying to sell Gilbert life insurance, just before his own fatal cardiac arrest.
* MamaBear: Bonnie Grape. When the cops detain Arnie for climbing the water tower [[RunningGag again,]] she risks her own health and being humiliated in public due to her weight, walking to the police station demanding to know where Arnie is.

* NoOshaCompliance: The town water tower is incredibly easy to climb up. All access to the ladder should be locked off.

** Janice and Larry.

* PleaseWakeUp: [[spoiler:How Arnie, and later the rest of the Grape family, discover that their mother has died.]]

* SmallTownBoredom: Welcome to Endora, Iowa where they look up to the majestic happenings of Des Moines, Iowa.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Gilbert's friends, a handyman and a mortician who often discuss the new Burger Barn that's about to open and how much better than other fast food chains they are.

'''''What's Eating Gilbert Grape''''' is a 1993 drama written by Peter Hedges, based on his novel of the same name, and directed by Lasse Hallström. It stars Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape, Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The ''[[Pinball/{{Fire}} Fire!]]'' {{pinball}} game that Arnie plays in the cafe [[spoiler:is a hint of how the family eventually deals with Bonnie's obese corpse.]]

* GracefulLoser: Mrs Carver graciously handing Gilbert to Becky, knowing she has the youth and joyful-heart to give him the happiness she never could.

* KidsAreCruel: The kids of Endora likes to hang around the Grape residence, hoping to have a chance to catch a glimpse of, and laugh at the morbidly obese Bonnie. Curiously enough, they are never shown to bully Arnie, and are actually very accepting of him.

* LetThePastBurn: The family's solution to how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse at the end of the film: light the house on fire to burn, along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation. In this case the fire symbolises protection.

* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: Janice and Larry.

* PleaseWakeUp: How Arnie, and later the rest of the Grape family, discover that their mother has died.

* IWasQuiteALooker: Bonnie Grape, in a picture (a real picture of the actress), taken before she gained the weight

A 1993 film starring Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape, Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Completely averted with Arnie, who's described as an "uncomfortably accurate" depiction of a mentally retarded person. He's definitely not a bad kid, and people are nice to him, but it's clear that taking care of him is an incredibly heavy burden on his family.

* LetThePastBurn: The family's solution to how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse at the end of the film. The protagonists light the house on fire to burn along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation. In this case the fire symbolises protection.
* TheLoad: Arnie is developmentally disabled and constantly causes nothing but trouble for the family. Bonnie also qualifies, as she is morbidly obese and can't really do too much of anything.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the beginning of the movie, Arnie - the mentally challenged young man - kills a grasshopper by beheading it, and then cries to Gilbert about it. Later on in the movie, Gilbert loses his cool - leading him to slap Arnie around, after being so protective of him.

One of the main difficulties the family is having concerns Arnie Grape (DiCaprio), who is developmentally disabled which creates a great deal of problems for everyone involved, especially the multiple times he climbs the town water tower and refuses to come down for anyone except his brother Gilbert.

A 1993 film starring Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

One of the main difficulties the family is having concerns Arnie Grape (played by Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio), who is developmentally disabled which creates a great deal of problems for everyone involved, especially the multiple times he climbs the town water tower and refuses to come down for anyone except his brother Gilbert.

Gilbert ends up chafing against his role as the new man of the house, along with having to find his way through romantic tensions with a married woman, preparations for a grand party for Arnie's 18th Birthday, his morbidly obese mother's declining health, and worrying about his future career.

Gilbert ends up chaffing against his role as the new man of the house, along with having to find his way through romantic tensions with a married woman, preparations for a grand party for Arnie's 18th Birthday, his morbidly obese mother's declining health, and worrying about his future career.

* LetThePastBurn: The family's solution to [[spoiler: how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse]] at the end of the film. The protagonists light the house on fire to burn [[spoiler: along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation]]. In this case the fire symbolises protection.

** Also done with [[spoiler:Gilbert and Arnie]], who look to leave the town with [[spoiler:Becky and her grandma]] when the latter two revisit the town in their trailer.

* HeReallyCanAct: Darlene Cates, aka Bonnie Grape, was cast after appearing as a guest on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show because director Lasse Holstrom could not find a professional actress big enough to play the part. Her role was expanded due to her surprising ability to act, despite having no experience (watch the scene in which Bonnie Grape confronts the Sheriff at the police station for a quick and powerful example).

* ActuallyPrettyGood: Darlene Cates, aka Bonnie Grape, was cast after appearing as a guest on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show because director Lasse Holstrom could not find a professional actress big enough to play the part. Her role was expanded due to her surprising ability to act, despite having no experience (watch the scene in which Bonnie Grape confronts the Sheriff at the police station for a quick and powerful example).

* YourCheatingHeart

One of the main difficulties the family is having concerns Arnie Grape (played by Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio), who is developmentally disabled which creates a great deal of problems for everyone involved, especially the multiple times he climbs the town water tower and refuses to get down for everyone, except his brother Gilbert.

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Ellen Grape

** YMMV: Her bitter tone makes it perfectly clear that she is not at all happy about it.

* DyeingForYourArt: LeonardoDiCaprio really did not bathe during the period in filming when Arnie refused to go near water.