B & J

Uh uh, not Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, I couldn't write a review on that. What we're looking at is 'Benny & Joon', a 1993 romantic comedy, featuring one of Depp's earlier appearances before he made the 'Hot Hollywood' list, though truly this is one of his finest work.

The 'Benny' in Benny & Joon is Aidan Quinn, the brother of 'Joon', who is played to perfection by Mary Stuart Masterson. Strangely, the main attraction of the show (for me at any rate) - namely Depp, is not in the title! Benny & Joon is a movie about the sibling care and individual realities of Benny and Joon. Joon suffers from an unnamed mental illness that requires her brother to deal with capitulating housekeepers, bewildered policemen and to renounce a social life altogether. Depp arrives in the pot of a card game played for keeps when Joon lost (Heart flush outrumped by Full House) and Benny brings him home to discover he is a the perfect housekeeper for Joon. He cleans (oh my!), cooks (albeit with an iron and goodness knows what else), and entertains. Ultimately, he proves to be more than the perfect housekeeper, becoming the perfect match; soulmate; yin to Joon's yang. Their love, secret at first, grows beyond the glass walls of Benny and Joon's world to burst into their own little homely bubble.

I cannot imagine Joon played in any other manner and by any other - Masterson is witty, perplexing and matched in her wholesome portrayal of Joon by Depp's immaculate performance as Sam. His air of innocence is impeccable with his puppy face in a Bustor Keaton outfit, and when he mimes, it is the best 10 minutes of the film. Quinn does a fine job as the silently enduring brother-turned-parent who in the end, lets go of his apron strings for the benefit of all; he is more a plot device than a feature to compel you to watch the movie.

Watch it again, and again, and you'll never be bored. Kudos to The Proclaimers for adding a wonderful finishing touch to the movie with the erratically charming song - "I would walk 500 miles".