Film Review
The subject of mental illness is one that has been sensitively dealt with
in a great many films, more often than not with depressing realism - see
for example George Franju's
La
Tête contre les murs (1959), Milos Forman's
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest (1975) and James Mangold's
Girl, Interrupted (1999).
Other filmmakers have opted for a more upbeat approach and promote a contrary
view, implying that what society regards as a sorry aberration is in fact
merely part of the rich diversity of the human construct, something to be
welcomed not lamented. Barry Levinson's
Rain Man (1988), Gus Van Sant's
Good Will Hunting (1997) and
Stephen Chbosky's
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) belong to
this second category and are no less authentic in their handling of mental
illness in its many guises. Jeremiah S. Chechik's
Benny & Joon
is another film of this ilk, not quite as well considered, but nonetheless
highly engaging, its manifest failings on the script front more than made
up for by the quality of the performances of the three admirably well-chosen
lead actors.
Christopher Morahan's acclaimed BBC drama
Can You Hear Me Thinking?
(1990) (starring Judi Dench and Michael Williams) stands out as possibly
the most authentic screen portrayal of an ordinary family coping with mental
illness. Against this, Chechik's sentimental comedy can't help looking
slight and a tad rose-tinted, but the unending emotional strain of having
to take responsibility for a loved family member is palpably conveyed by
Aidan Quinn as the 30-something brother whose entire life is consumed by
his need to protect his apparently schizophrenic sister. Quinn's presence
in the film is too easily overshadowed by his more glamorous co-stars Johnny
Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson, but he is the one thing that anchors this
fanciful rom-com in reality and gives it the dramatic punch it requires to
avoid being just a piece of vacuous crowd-pleasing whimsy.
Benny & Joon was directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik immediately after
he had scored a notable box office hit with
National Lampoon's Christmas
Vacation (1989). Chechik's filmography contains a fair number of
outright misfires - from the disappointing Clouzot rehash
Diabolique
(1996) to the totally misguided attempt to resurrect an iconic '60s British
television show
The Avengers (1998) - and this is presumably why he
has stuck to TV directing since the late 1990s.
Benny & Joon
is undeniably his most satisfying and memorable film, an enjoyably off-beat
comedy that makes light of the eccentricities of human behaviour - of which
mental illness is only a part - without ever crossing the line into offensiveness.
On its initial release, the film proved to be a surprising hit, its success
due in no small measure to the mushrooming popularity of its lead actor,
Johnny Depp.
With barely half a dozen film credits to his name by the time he contributed
his immense talents to
Benny & Joon, Depp was already a major
movie star, thanks to his universally lauded lead portrayal in Tim Burton's
contemporary Gothic fairytale
Edward
Scissorhands (1990). In preparing for this film, Depp had spent
a great deal of time studying Charlie Chaplin's technique, since Burton's
film required him to find a way to engage the audience's sympathy without
dialogue. The skill that the actor acquired on this film served him
well on
Benny & Joon, in which he had a mostly non-speaking role
as an eccentric outsider with an overwhelming fascination with silent screen
comics of the past.
It is not overstating matters to say that Depp practically steals the film,
particularly in those utterly captivating scenes where he imitates Charlie
Chaplin and Buster Keaton with an extraordinary attention to detail and the
kind of unbridled comedic flair not seen on screen since the late 1920s.
Depp's recreation of Chaplin's memorable 'bread roll dance' from
The Gold Rush (1925) is as hilarious
as the original, and his Keaton-esque mimes and pratfalls are no less adorable
to watch. Johnny Depp's obvious talent and enthusiasm for physical
comedy are more noticeable here than on probably any other film he made,
but what is more remarkable is the actor's ability to communicate his character's
thoughts and feelings with mere physical gestures alone, making dialogue almost
totally superfluous. Large swathes of
Benny & Joon function beautifully
as silent cinema, helped by Depp's visual gymnastics and some highly expressive
camera work. Depp may not have been a fully fledged actor by this stage
in his career, but his promise is more than in evidence and he richly deserved
his Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical.
Whilst
Benny & Joon plays to Johnny Depp's strengths (and consequently
tends to allow him to steal most of the limelight) its real emotional heart
lies in the equally strong performances from the two other leads - Mary Stuart
Masterson and Aidan Quinn. As the chronically schizophrenic Joon and
her devoted carer-brother Benny, the latter two actors give the film the
harsh jolt of reality it needs to keep us engaged and see that, beneath the
quirky comedy, this is a story of real human interest. This is a film that
poses an important moral question - just how should society regard those
with mental illness? Thirty years after the film was made, it is a
conundrum that we are still grappling with - and for good reason: there are
no easy answers.
Masterson's portrayal of a young schizophrenic woman is so convincing that
at times it is distressing to watch, and this provides a suitably barbed
counterpoint to the kooky flights of fancy that are clearly intended to direct
the film towards more conventional rom-com territory. Quinn's solid
performance is no less authentic and it soon becomes apparent that his character
Benny is as dependent on Joon as she is on him - one of the more poignant
and sobering aspects of the film. When Benny discovers that his sister
has formed a romantic attachment with the interloper Sam his hostile reaction
appears cruel and excessive - but what lies beneath is the obsessive need
that he has developed over long years to protect his vulnerable sibling from
anything that might worsen her condition. In a way, Benny is as sick
and fragile as Joon - he just doesn't know it yet.
It is easy to fault
Benny & Joon for its light-hearted handling
of some serious issues but, despite the high quirkiness quotient and an overly
simplistic plot resolution it has a great deal to say about how society should
regard mental illness. The film may have a tendency to skate over the
unpleasant realities of its subject matter, but it isn't anywhere near as
shallow or flippant as it first appears. It's easy to scoff at the glib
fairytale ending, in which Joon and Sam end up living happily ever after
(making cheese toasties with an electric iron), but there surely is merit
in the idea that those burdened with mental illness are better off living
independent lives rather than being merely confined to a secure institution.
For a film made in the early 1990s,
Benny & Joon still feels remarkably
pertinent, and it has lost none of its warmth and charm.
© James Travers 2023
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Benny Pearl, a car mechanic in his early thirties, lives
with his younger sister Joon, an aspiring artist who is prone to violent
mood swings on account of her mental illness. It has been several years
since the siblings lost their parents in a terrible accident, and whilst
Joon makes great demands on his time and patience, Benny remains devotedly
attached to her - so much so that he has neglected his own personal life.
One evening, Joon gets to play poker with one of Benny's friends, Mike, and
loses - with the result that the Pearls are forced into accommodating Mike's
eccentric cousin Sam. An illiterate odd-ball with severe communication
difficulties, Sam is fascinated with silent film comedians of the past, particularly
Buster Keaton, and enjoys impersonating them for the amusement of passers-by.
Benny merely finds Sam annoying but takes a shine to him when he makes a
positive impression on Joon and repays the Pearls' kindness by dutifully
cleaning their house.
With Sam keeping Joon safe and occupied, Benny has time to start dating Ruthie,
a likeable young woman who works in a diner. Things seem to be working
out well for everyone until Joon tells her brother that she and Sam have
embarked on a passionate love affair. Disgusted by this betrayal of
his trust, Benny throws Sam out of his house and drives him away. Unable
to cope with his sister's extremely erratic behaviour after Sam's departure,
Benny has no other option than to agree to Joon being committed to a secure
home for the mentally ill. It isn't long before Benny begins to regret
his decision, but by this time his sister refuses to have anything more to
do with him. With Sam's help, Benny manages to get past the security
measures at the institution where his sister is being detained and offers
her the prospect of a new life in an apartment of her own...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.