Benny & Joon (1993 movie starring Johnny Depp)

I saw it at the movies. Benny was Aidan Quinn. Joon was Mary Stuart Masterson. Depp was Sam, basically a quirky supporting role which stood out because it was a playful character. It was an okay film, not something you need to see more than once or twice.

This is the movie where Johnny Depp does that thing with the hot dogs.

Wasn't this also the movie which reintroduced "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers?

I was a teenager during this film's release. As R3 noted, the soundtrack was a mega-hit...the movie was not so much.

He did make Edward Scissorhands before this, but Benny & Joon was the first to showcase his ability to play physical comedy. His character in this film was based on that of Chaplin and Keaton.

[quote]From what I understand this is the first film where Johnny Depp shows his quirky side which opened doors for him to play odd characters.

That was three years earlier, with Edward Scissorhands.

21 Jump Street also ended in 1990.

Then Depp's career went dormant for a few years, as his relationship with Winona Ryder intensified and her career took off..

They were over by 1993, when Benny & Joon and What's Eating Gilbert Grape were released.

And, yes, it made that Pretenders song a hit in the USA.

Ryder was supposed to play the Masterson role, but she and Depp broke up just before filming commenced, so Masterson stepped in at the last minute.

It romanticizes schizophrenia, annoying me no end as I have a schizophrenic cousin. It's not a pretty disease. I don't blame the actors, who were fine. Julianne Moore has a supporting role as a waitress Depp's character recognizes as having played a small part in a horror movie. Seriously.

I liked it — although I’m sure it’s very dated now. I really like Mary Stuart Masterson — she’s a fave of mine.

The 90s saw a trend in movies about mentally challenged adults. Usually involved a sibling having to care for them.

It's essentially a mentally challenged minstrel show.

Oh look at the happy r*****s so pure and innocent.

Irritating

I remember liking it even though I’ve never been a Johnny Depp fan. I don’t recall anything specific about it, however.

Is this the movie where he romances a retarded girl?

Mary Stuart got her name from the sane gender bender catalogue as Jennifer Jeason Leigh. They're also equally untalented.

I don’t remember what it was about but I remember not liking it. After time I will revisit films to give them another chance, but I hope to never see this one again.

I was an extra in this movie. I was living in Spokane and doing community theater and the artistic director suggested I audition. I played a doctor in a scene with Aidan Quinn and Masterson.

I hadn't done much extra work at that point, so it was a surprise that I sat around from my arrival at 2 p.m. until 11 p.m., when finally called to the set. In between, I was allowed to dine with the other actors for dinner. I was last in line to get my meal, so the only empty chair was next to Quinn's. He had just released a movie, "The Playboys." I had seen it and told him I liked it. He was shocked because he figured it would quickly disappear from theaters. (Depp sat next to Quinn, but was fairly quiet.)

My scene took forever to choreograph and I recall the director treated me quite well because he had been told I was a local TV news anchor. He even knew my name. I think we spent about a half-hour deciding what "business" I would do in the background. I thought it was overkill. But once we got everything worked out, they filmed the scene just twice.

I also learned that Benny & Joon was Julianne Moore's first film, but I never got to see her on set.

The original script included a huge house fire that was scrapped in the final cut. The production company even got permission to burn down a real house, but it was for naught. If you follow the movie closely, there's a bit where a kitchen towel catches fire, but it leads nowhere.

[quote] Is this the movie where he romances a retarded girl?

To be fair, his character was retard adjacent.

Is he full retard in this one?

[quote]The 90s saw a trend in movies about mentally challenged adults.

The bus. The bus my sister Ride ride

Aidan Quinn was so hot I'd watch him in anything.

Benny and Joon is precisely where Mary Stuart Masterson lost me. Completely.

have you seen Lies of the Twins? Aiden has 2 parts.

R22 — Thank you for linking that movie — never heard of it, but I will watch for Richard Avery!

R16 — Thanks for the inside-baseball, loved reading your post.

Mad Love and Crazy/Beautiful two other movies I always sort of associate with Benny and Joon.

R16 What scene were you in?

R10 Two I remember are "I Am Sam" with Sean Penn and "The Other Sister" with Juliette Lewis. Both were embarrassing and hard to watch.

I didn't like this film but Aidan Quinn is dreamy.

For the record, the years of release were:

- Benny & Joon (1993)

- The Other Sister (1999)

- I Am Sam (2001)

- Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)

[quote]The 90s saw a trend in movies about mentally challenged adults. Usually involved a sibling having to care for them.

That sounds like DOMINICK AND EUGENE with Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce.

I recall enjoying it mostly because I had a crush on Depp at the time (times have changed — I hate him now) but I guess it can’t have done very well since both Aidan Quinn and Mary Stuart Masterson, very much the It Boy and It Girl at the time, took a big career nosedive afterwards.

[quote]That sounds like DOMINICK AND EUGENE with Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce.

Now, that movie I loved.

Leonardo DiCaprio in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" was by far the best performance of a mentally challenged person.

[quote] Aidan Quinn is dreamy.

Every VHS copy I've rented of "Reckless" had horizontal dropouts right before his dick scene.

Forest Gump shower tard face sells and wins awards.

I also won an Oscar for playing a 'tard who briefly becomes a genius.

Posers, all of you!

The actor who played Corky’s girlfriend died last year.

R36 Sad.

Not even a "DEAD to me" thread on Datalounge.

I always hated this movie. It's fucking awful. Lol, I watched a movie the other day called " Wild Flower". On Tubi I think. What another disaster of a movie as well. Patricia Arquette probably thought she'd get an Oscar for her "performance" in that movie.

I saw it when it came out. I didn't buy the ending at all.

Retard movies is one of my least favourite genres