5 Directors x 5 Unseen Films (Lasse Hallström #1)

It is ultimately another one of Lasse Hallström's strangely meaningless schmaltzy concoctions in which a whole load of stuff happens but doesn't come together or lead to anything. But somehow that works better here than in his other efforts because it tells the story of a person whose enormous burden of commitments to his dysfunctional family keep him stuck in a meaningless, directionless existence in the desolate, lonely expanse of rural Iowa; an existence in which the opening of a new burger restaurant is a really exciting event. Combined with two exceptionally strong performances by Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, I did really enjoy What's Eating Gilbert Grape. It's a very easy film to like.