Mhhmmm Benny... and Joon?

With the monthly update of Netflix, came the monthly update of my top ten suggestions. Finally, some of the movies I kept postponing because I knew (or so I thought I knew) were not going to be my favorites, were removed from my list. Unfortunately, I was not that impressed with the films that took their place. One of the films that remained seemed interesting and always caught my eye when I was searching through the movies, yet it was never interesting enough for me to click to watch. Since I was thoroughly unimpressed with my update, I decided to give the movie a try. Ok, Benny And Joon let's see what you’ve got!

The movie was filmed in 1993 and was directed by Jeremiah Chechnik. Some of the "top billed cast" include: The magnificent and familiar, Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn, and the noted actress, Julianne Moore. I'll be honest with you, when I saw that Johnny Depp was supporting actor, I was more than happy to view the film!

So, the storyline is about a brother (Aidan Quinn/ Benny) and his sister (Mary Masterson/Joon) and how they are fighting the struggles of life together. Benny is a "stand-up guy" and owns his own car repair shop; he is simply trying to make it in the world. Joon is "mentally disabled/handicap. It is Benny's job to take care of her, being that their family died when they were young. Somehow, from the loss of a bet with one of Benny's friends, a boy named Sam (Johnny Depp) goes to live with the family. Long story short, Sam and Joon end up spending a lot of time together while Benny is away at work. Sam is such an odd and unique character that they (spoiler alert) fall in love. Benny finds out about their love for each other and thinks Sam is sick for falling in love with a "mentally-challenged" person. Benny tells Sam he is never allowed to see Joon again.

Well... pretty stereotypically, Sam gets Joon out of the house and they begin to run away together. But wait... oops, I guess Sam forgot!... Joon is mentally disabled and she freaks the **** out when he tries to take her away from everything she knows. Joon ends up going to a hospital for the disabled and after a few efforts, Benny and Sam make amends, snatch Joon from the hospital, and they all live happily ever after!

Sounds cheesy, right? Well, it is; but I must say that I really enjoyed the movie. The highlight of the film for me was when Sam and Joon hook up. It must have been the WOW factor Johnny Depp has on me because I couldn't help but feel really wrong about not only watching the steamy scene but enjoying it. Joon is "not all there" and... Gee, I dunno... can you put two and two together?

What made this awkward situation not a COMPLETE bust of the movie was that yes, Joon was "mentally handicap" but throughout the film, I really didn't see why or even where she fell short of normalcy. She was weird and she did freak out at times, and she definitely had certain routines she had to complete but I looked at myself, and I realized YES! I have routines and I freak out at times and ya, I can be a little weird.. does that mean I'm "mentally challenged?"

To sum up what I'm trying to get at is, yes it was an awesome film with a quirky plot and a sexy cast... but, damn, the director did an absolutely horrible job of character development on behalf of Joon. It was strange and not dramatized enough, and I'm still wondering if I could be considered "mentally challenged."

Netflix, I did really enjoy this film, No, it's not in my top ten favorite movies of all time... because even days after I've watched the film I'm still debating in my head whether or not Joon was really handicap. This film gets a sideways thumb; up for Johnny Depp, down for Joon.. overall, a so-so.