Lasse Hallstrom directs this beautifully photographed, critically acclaimed drama about small-town life and the contraints a young man's family's responsibilities put on his independence. Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp), the de facto head of the Grape family following the suicide of his father, struggles to take care of his two sisters, his mentally handicapped brother (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his 500-pound mother, when a beautiful young free spirit (Juliette Lewis) awakens him to the fact that he is not living his own life. The screenplay is written by Peter Hedges who also wrote the novel of the same name.