(1993)
3
Michael Costello
Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin may be long gone but their spirit lives on in Jeremy Chechik's whimsical film. Benny (Aidan Quinn) is a garage owner who is responsible for the care of his mentally ill sister, Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). After a poker loss forces him to take in the eccentric Sam (Johnny Depp) as a boarder, Benny becomes concerned when Joon finds Sam attractive. Chechik's film has charm to spare but is a trifle evasive in its suggestion that a form of mental illness that sounds like schizophrenia can be cured by love. But reality must take a back seat in a film which almost amounts to a showcase for a virtuoso performance by Johnny Depp. An actor who has often played down his matinée idol looks to explore characters inhabiting the outermost regions of human experience and imagination, in this film he plays a character that has apparently absorbed the complete works of the great silent comedians, and replicates their style in his everyday behavior. Although this can sound repellently precious, Depp's ability to mimic Keaton and Chaplin, as well as inventing some of his own comic business, is astonishing. But as appealing as this character may be, one wonders, along with Benny, if he is the answer to the problems of the troubled Joon. Quinn, Masterson, and Julianne Moore, as a waitress Benny has his eye on, are all excellent.
Benny & Joon on AllMovie
Benny & Joon (1993)
