Benny & Joon (1993)

	Directed by: Jeremiah S. Chechik	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama/Comedy/Romance NORWEGIAN TITLE Benny & Joon RUNNING TIME 98 minutes
	Produced by: Susan Arnold Donna Arkoff Roth
	Written by: Barry Berman

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Sam	Johnny Depp
Juniper "Joon" Pearl	Mary Stuart Masterson	½
Benjamin "Benny" Pearl	Aidan Quinn
Ruthie	Julianne Moore
Eric	Oliver Platt	½
Dr. Garvey	C.C.H. Pounder	½
Thomas	Dan Hedaya	-
Mike	Joe Grifasi	-
Randy Burch	William H. Macy	-
Mrs. Smail	Eileen Ryan	-
Claudia	Liane Curtis	-

Review

Even the quirkiness is quirky in this deceptively cute but refreshingly sincere dramedy about life and all that for a trio of youngish small-town Americans. Johnny Depp plays a dreamer, pantomimist and film buff who moves in with two siblings played by Mary Stuart Masterson and Aidan Quinn. She is a mentally ill, artistic soul who hasn't quite figured out how to make adult life work; he is a warm-hearted auto mechanic trying to keep it all together. Directed by Jeremiah Chechik (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), Benny & Joon may seem naïve or even a bit silly at times, but over the course of the film, it turns out to be anything but. It portrays mental illness (of an unspecified schizophrenic affliction) with a thoughtful balance between humanity and inquisitiveness. Johnny Depp's character puts it perfectly when he describes Joon: "Except for being a little mentally ill, she's pretty normal." This wonderful outlook on life is representative of the entire film, which is funny and engaging in its own laid-back manner, enriched by an atmosphere lingering somewhere between the pragmatic and the contemplative.