Benny and Joon

PG 1993 | 99 mins | Comedy
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10 years before Johnny Depp donned a pirate hat and braided his goatee to play Captain Jack Sparrow, he channeled the spirit of another eccentric misfit simply named Sam - a quirky, soft-spoken stranger who comes to town and rattles the delicate balance between overprotective Benny (Aidan Quinn) and his mentally disturbed sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson).  Though well-acted throughout, Depp steals the show with an imaginative and heartfelt performance.  Even if movies about relationships don't usually do it for you, there's a richness and magical quality to this film that anyone can appreciate.  And if nothing else, you'll get some zany ideas about what to do with a few forks and dinner rolls at your next meal out!

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Top 10 Fun Facts

  1. The dancing bread rolls moment in Benny & Joon was borrowed from Charlie Chaplin's 1925 classic movie "The Gold Rush." Some say borrowed, others say stolen.
  2. Talk about a quickie - they only spent 45 minutes shooting "Prom Queen Mutilator."
  3. In case you were wondering how much begging the director had to do to get Johnny Depp to taste the paint, the answer is none - Depp actually improvised the scene.
  4. Mary Stuart Masterston may want to get an MRI, since she says that she cannot remember shooting the bus scene. That's probably not good.
  5. To try and make his handwriting look more like a child's, the right-handed Depp wrote with his left hand in the film. I guess he's not ambidextrous.
  6. Depp literally threw himself into the role. He wouldn't let a stunt man do his job for the physical comedy stuff in the park - he did it all himself.
  7. A year before Benny and Joon was released, Johnny Depp starred in the video for the Lemonhead's hit song "It's a Shame About Ray." The filmmakers referenced this in the movie when Sam says to Joon "It's a shame about raisins." How very meta.
  8. Miniature models are often used to substitute for their real-life counterparts in movies. Usually this bit of movie magic works. Not so much in Benny & Joon. During the opening credits, it is quite obvious that the train is just a model. And not the first "model" Johnny's been associated with.
  9. When we see Joon's medical records in Benny and Joon, her address is listed as N 825 Water Street. When she produces her Medical Alert card as a form of ID in the next scene it shows her address as N 301 Cedar Street. Continuity issue or did Joon forget to make an address change?
  10. Like Viggo Mortensen in A Perfect Murder, Mary Stuart Masterson featured her own paintings in Benny and Joon. Unlike Mortensen, she did not go on to pursue art as a side project.