Rent Benny & Joon on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Barry Berman & Lesley McNeil (story), Barry Berman (screenplay)
Directed by: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn, Julianne Moore, Oliver Platt, CCH Pounder, Dan Hedaya, William H. Macy
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer
Plot
A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Verdict
It's sweet but incredibly predictable. The charming aspect of this movie is the oddness of the characters. Why do we have a character that wants to be Buster Keaton? With the quirkiness, mental illness is relegated to just being a plot device. Part of that is the time period, though I wanted more from this; higher stakes or something to drive the plot. It's too simplistic.
Skip it.
Review
Benny (Aidan Quinn) takes care of his mentally ill sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). He's encouraged to put her in a group home which he understandably resists though he can't adequately care for her. As he considers it, he realizes he can't watch her all the time.
Joon gets Sam (Johnny Depp) when she loses a hand in poker and he was part of the bet. It's an odd premise and Sam is an odd fellow, modeling himself after Buster Keaton. Benny & Joon take him in, and he may be the solution to Benny's conundrum. Sam can watch Joon as logic is loose on this movie.
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| Mary Stuart Masterson, Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn play Joon, Sam, Benny |
The two strange artistic types fall for each other, but it feels forced. They're paired off because the movie needs some semblance of plot. They're the most likely to pair off, but I don't believe that they'd be in love having just met. There's some quickly resolved tension between Benny and Sam. Who didn't see that coming? This follows all the typical story beats. The two odd characters pair off. Benny wants to help Sam's act, finding him quite funny though I'm not sure a Buster Keaton act in the park is burgeoning stardom. They fight and resolve it, and then there's a happy conclusion.
Benny finds out about Sam and Joon and forbids it, upsetting everyone. That was predictable, as was the quick resolution. This has no stakes and the characters exist to serve the story. The story doesn't develop around them.
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