BENNY & JOON
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 6.6 out of 10 (C, ** out of ****)
Date Released: 4/16/93 Running Length: 1:39 Rated: PG (Mature themes)
Starring: Aidan Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Johnny Depp,
Julianne Moore
Director: Jeremiah Chechik
Producers: Susan Arnold and Donna Roth
Screenplay: Barry Berman
Music: Rachel Portman
Released by MGM
Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) is a young woman inflicted with a mental illness that occasionally causes bouts of strange and manic behavior. Because of this condition, she cannot be left alone, so her brother Benny (Aidan Quinn), with whom she lives, hires a housekeeper to look after her while he works. However, Joon's tendencies drive away woman after woman in rapid succession until there is no one left. Enter Sam (Johnny Depp), an illiterate dreamer with an irrational love of movies. He proves not only to be excellent at doing housework, but a perfect companion for Joon. Until the two of them fall in love, that is.
Beyond recognizing that it's a romance, it's difficult to identify exactly what BENNY & JOON is supposed to be since it is liberally sprinkled with elements of fantasy, drama, and comedy. However, no matter which of those three categories the production team was aiming for, they missed the mark. In this case, the reason why is clear.
While writer Barry Berman infused his script with some clever plot elements, a few of which go contrary to the expected norms, he lost sight of two of the three principal characters in the process. Time was obviously spent sketching outlines of Sam, Joon, and Benny, but when it came to putting flesh on the bones, only Benny is given his due. Apparently, the assumption that Joon and Sam were off-the-wall was enough for the writer and director. Nothing more was necessary - show them as unusual and the audience will accept them. For Benny, a "regular" human being, effort had to be put into giving him substance lest the viewers identify him as one-dimensional.
The success or failure of a picture like BENNY & JOON relies heavily upon the audience's acceptance of the various relationships. A lack of strong, believable characters undermines the entire story. I never developed a feel or empathy for the coupling of Sam and Joon and, by the end, I didn't care whether they got together or not.
A little whimsy doesn't make a story original, and it certainly doesn't replace solid characterization. BENNY & JOON's selling point is that it's a "romance on the brink of reality." However, the actual movie isn't nearly as fantastic as the previews lead you to believe. Aside from some quirks in Sam and Joon's personalities, and few unusual scenes, BENNY & JOON is pretty much on the straight and narrow.
The actors, saddled by a marginal script and uninspired direction (the camera angles and lighting in this film are awful), do the best they can with the roles. In the case of Joon, Mary Stuart Masterson gives a sub-par performance, but this is more likely the result of what she had to work with than the effort she put into the part. Whatever the case, Joon turns out to be unimpressive and too often fades into the background. Johnny Depp's Sam fares little better--with one highly visible exception. Depp's performances in several scenes of Chaplinesque physical comedy are standouts. Aidan Quinn, playing the "straight man" does a credible job--so credible, in fact, that he upstages his co-stars, which was obviously not the intent of the story.
For the most part, technical details in movies should be invisible to the audience. Often, when something stands out, that's because it's done poorly. Aside from the aforementioned problems with lighting and camerawork, the editing was ill-considered, resulting in an unevenly-paced, disjointed final product. Also, the soundtrack is banal (perhaps the only tune of interest is Joe Cocker covering the Steve Winwood/Blind Faith tune "I Can't Find My Way Home").
In general, I try to go into a film with as few preconceptions as I can manage, but I have to admit initially looking forward to BENNY & JOON. Needless to say, it came far below the quality level I had hoped for. This is yet another case of a movie preview being superior to the film it represents. BENNY & JOON is too dark to be a good comedy, too shallow to be a good drama, and too "real" to be a good fantasy. As a result, it's certainly not a sterling example of American cinema.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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