This is a really romantic dramedy film. It's a film that will make you laugh and have tears in yours from the sadness. It's an all around good film that is good for teen film but it's also very much for adults.Johnny Depp has been known for odd roles and Benny & Joon is no exception. He plays the eccentric character Sam who falls in love with a girl that has some mental disabilities Juniper "Joon" Pearl - it's a really nice love story.If you liked Depp in films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Cry-Baby (1990) then there is a chance you will enjoy Benny & Joon (1993).7.5/10

I have a tendency to watch films like this from a certain distance and on a different level than I think the casual viewer would. That's because I have two adult children who have struggled with mental illness, one more severely than the other. Both are functional now but one always wonders how or when a future tipping point might occur. With that first hand perspective, I didn't get a clear sense that Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) was all that sick - "because you know, ..., except for being a little mentally ill, she's pretty normal." That was Sam's (Johnny Depp) analysis, and I think he got it right. There were only a couple of episodes where Joon acted out abnormally - the one time she got angry with Benny (Aidan Quinn) over Sam, and later on with Sam on the bus. But on both occasions, one could understand how a 'normal' person might react the same way.So with that said, I saw this more as an eccentric little love story, with maybe Sam being the challenged character more so than Joon. I mean seriously, Benny won (lost?) him in a card game, when have you ever heard of that happening? It's Sam who helps the viewer understand the point of view that eccentricity and being a little 'off' isn't always such a bad thing and that maybe there's a little room for a quirky character in everyone's life.So maybe it's not a great movie, but you'll probably remember "Benny and Joon" a lot longer than the last action adventure you just watched. It doesn't need over the top chase scenes or mindless explosions to put it's message across, and you come out of the experience with a nice warm feeling that things just might work out if you apply a little love and understanding with the crazy.

It's a shame that this film is not very popular. At least I only know very few people who have watched this wonderful movie. But it is really worth watching, as the story is beautiful and heartwarming; the music is lovely; Mary Stuart Masterson's, Johnny Depp's and Aidan Quinn's acting is brilliant; there are scenes that are unforgettable; sad, funny, extraordinary and touching moments; and this film makes you love mentally ill people. It shows that they are 'normal', sometimes they just do things in a different way than we do (e.g. making toast or cleaning the house) and that they can have amazing talents that you would never expect.Benny&Joon is definitely one of my favourites and I recommend it to everybody who does not necessarily need a lot of action etc. in a movie.

I wasn't expecting too much from this but it turned out to be a lot more heart warming and touching of a movie then I would've thought. The story is about a girl with a mental illness, her protective brother and a slightly child like man-child who is talented in a Buster Keaton kind of way. This is a role unlike anything else you've seen Johnny Depp in. Mary Stuart Masterson has a very well layered role and Aidan Quinn plays her protective older brother. Julianne Moore in one of her first roles plays a waitress at the local diner who's a failed actress who's come home from an attempt in Los Angeles that didn't go as well as she had hoped.