The idea of BENNY & JOON is pretty good. Adult brother (Aiden Quinn) and sister (Mary Stuart Masterson) live together because the sister is mentally unstable and he needs to look after her. However, over time, it's obvious he can't control her and they both need space to grow--but Benny cannot bring himself to admit this. Being so inextricably intertwined isn't good for either of them. Into this less than idea situation appears the rather child-like and bizarre character played by Johnny Depp. This oddball is a bit like Chaplin and Keaton combined and it's obvious he's addicted to these silent comedies, as Depp nicely recreates the dance with the diner rolls Chaplin did in THE GOLD RUSH.

Overall, the biggest plus was Depp's strange but endearing performance. This, combined with the basic plot idea do make the film worth seeing. Unfortunately, two elements really distracted as well. First, exactly what sort of mental illness Joon has is rather vague and strange. In some ways she seems to have a combination of schizophrenia and an intermittent explosive disorder---but at other times she seems reasonably normal. Secondly, and this REAALLY irritated me, is that at least three times during the film they had long musical montages that seemed more like music videos than part of a film and they really came out of nowhere--looking more like padding than anything else or perhaps the film was being deliberately marketed solely towards teens.

Still, it's an agreeable little film--just don't expect a lot of magic.

Though his character is very much the center of the film, its star Johnny Depp left it out of the title. Benny&Joon is a brother and sister played by Aidan Quinn and Mary Stuart Masterson. Depp's character is Sam a man much influenced by Charlie Chaplin who comes into their lives and changes everything in this very gentle comedy.

You have to give credit where it's due, Johnny Depp knew his talent, knew his worth, and was determined not to be pigeonholed as a teen idol that he was from his role in 21 Jump Street. He's created one of the widest variety of bodies of work there is out there for a player and has both defied type casting and retained being a box office draw. In fact only recently and I'm sure the money was too insanely good to turn down was he repeating parts as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Benny is your average working man who has a garage and paints and repairs cars and he's concerned about his sister Joon who is mentally disturbed. He's the only family they both have, but her antics have left him with no life besides work and minding her. Part of his restricted social life is a really penny ante poker game with his cronies who all know him and his situation. They bet other things besides money. William H. Macy bets a weird cousin who has come to live with him and he loses Johnny Depp to Quinn.

But this very gentle soul who could be a cousin of Depp's Edward Scissorhands sparks something in Masterson. Depp's always doing his Charlie Chaplin shtick, but you don't mind it because he's so darn good at it. Anyway Quinn might just be able to get a life of his own now and fill it with Julianne Moore with whom he'd like to get something going with.

The year before Benny&Joon came out, Robert Downey, Jr. did his most critically acclaimed role as Charlie Chaplin in the film Chaplin for which he won an Oscar nomination. I'm willing to bet that Johnny Depp must have been up for the part and Benny&Joon just might have been his way of showing who was a better Chaplin.

And I'm also sure that Benny&Joon is also Johnny Depp's way of a nice homage to one of the screen immortals he admires. Either way this quirky, but gentle comedy about life is a wonderful film and worth many viewings.

Small town auto mechanic Benny Pearl (Aidan Quinn) dutifully takes care of his mentally ill sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). He can't keep a house cleaner because of her. Then Joon loses a poker game bet, and they have to take in the other card player's oddball cousin Sam (Johnny Depp). He's a Buster Keaton fanatic. She's a painter. And Benny's life is stuck in neutral taking care of Joon.

MSM is playing Joon as an unabashed quirky character. It doesn't feel authentic. She's supposed to be problematic, but other than the fire thing, she doesn't seem to be that big of a problem. Same goes for Johnny Depp. He's already innately charming. It doesn't fit that he's driving his cousin insane. This is a cute movie where Johnny Depp is having all kinds of fun. There is a more dramatic romance from Benny and the waitress Ruthie (Julianne Moore) if they could let it out. Sam and Joon generate not that much heat. Until the third act, there was little drama.