Johnny Depp Steals the Show and a Heart in Benny & Joon

“We’re all a little weird, and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them in mutual weirdness and call it love.” This quote, which I’ve most often seen attributed to Dr. Seuss, sprang to mind immediately when I watched Benny & Joon, a quirky 1993 movie written by Lesley McNeil and Barry Berman and directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) is an intelligent, artistic, severely socially impaired young woman who lives with her brother Benny (Aidan Quinn), a mechanic. Sam (Johnny Depp) is a quiet, eccentric newcomer to town with a rare gift for pantomime. When the cousin with whom he is staying fobs him off on Benny, Sam and Joon meet, and the result is magic.

I’d never heard of this movie before Netflix Instant Viewing led me to it, but I figured with Depp in a lead role, the chances of my liking it were pretty good. He excels at playing characters that are exceedingly strange – and all the more lovable for it. Sam doesn’t talk much, instead watching the world with wide eyes and making his own distinctive way through it, totally unperturbed by the funny looks that people tend to give him. Benny’s a nice guy who’s used to unusual behavior, so he has no objections to Sam, and he soon finds himself impressed by both his housecleaning prowess and his brilliant natural showmanship. Meanwhile, Joon and Sam intrigue each other, and gradually, he brings her out of her shell, with some help from Ruthie (Julianne Moore), a waitress with an eye for Benny. But is romance really in the cards for a woman like Joon, whose past trauma has caused intense withdrawal from the world? Benny isn’t so sure…

Masterson puts in a good performance as a woman who has a lot going for her but is also clearly just a bit off, and Quinn brings an earthy charm and a strong protective streak to his role. Moore is likable as someone who is understanding of both Sam and Joon’s oddities and who wants to get close to Benny but is frustrated by the barriers he puts between them. But Depp really steals the show with his beautifully choreographed physical comedy and the innate sweetness of his character. Sam seems to wander through life in a bit of a happy daze, doing his own thing and being content with very little. When he’s on the screen, he is mesmerizing.

I gave this movie a shot mostly because of him. When it started to the tune of The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), I figured that was a good sign. That cheerful pledge of willingness to go to great lengths for the sake of a loved one bookends the movie, while most of the music has an airy, romantic flavor to it, like the waltzes of Pushing Daisies and the scores of the silent films to which it seems Sam belongs. That adds to the appeal of this endearing little film about a couple of weirdoes, each of whom is just the right kind of weird for the other.