Benny and Joon(1993) #3

Director:Jeremiah Chechik

I thought that the film Benny and Joon had a very playful and fun feel to it. I'm a big fan of pop culture so the references to Buster Keaton and Boo Radley were awesome. I think that the film wasn't so much of a love story as it may seem to some, but rather the story of the love between a brother and sister. I don't think the director wanted to tell you what Joon's illness exactly is because that wasn't the focus and I think it would have caused viewer's to see her in a different way then was intended. We are supposed to notice a girl whose brother has a difficult time of letting his sister take responsibility of her life and also it's the fact that he cannot let go of her, Joon is the only thing familiar and constant in Benny's life. The minute their parents died he kicked into this mode of taking care of her and it has always been that way. The character of Benny is slightly more complex then Sam and Joon. I feel like he was the one going through things more emotionally then Joon did with her illness. I thought Johnny Depp's acting in the film was fantastic with the little words he spoke he made up for in his comedic performances. I liked the way his costumes were and the chemistry that he and Mary Stewart Masterson shared on screen. My favorite scene was when Sam told Benny, "you're scared, I used to look up to you but now I can't even look at you." It says so much about both Benny and Sam's character. The metaphor of Benny's fish dying reflected his life really great visually. It was the idea that Benny can't even manage to keep a fish alive, how is he going to keep being able to take care of his sister. The entire time that you see Joon you don't fully understand that she is really sick you just see the odd things she does and then the things that you see Sam do are just as odd. It is when she has her breakdown that you stop and realize she really is sick and this whole time you been on her side against Benny's character because you don't fully understand his need to be so protective. The music throughout the film matches the theme very nicely, it has this innocent and magical feel to it, especially during Depp's unique display of talents. A lot of the shots throughout the film are wide shots and not to many close ups. But, I really enjoy that because the exterior and interior shots of the locations they use are visually appealing and really play along with the feel and overall look of the film.