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A romance on the brink of reality.
In this 1993 film, a mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Joon is smart, creative and pretty — and severely schizophrenic. She lives together with her protective brother Benny. When Joon "wins" the eccentric, mentally disabled Sam (Johnny Depp) during a poker game, Benny reluctantly agrees to let Sam stay with them for a while.
Sam and Joon inevitably fall in love, and as they try to set up a life together, the darker side of Joon's schizophrenia comes to light. Still, Sam refuses to give up, despite Benny flat-out telling him that Joon would never be fit for an adult relationship.
Tropes used in Benny & Joon include:
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Sam.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Sam and Joon.
- Media Research Failure: Benny & Joon does not refer to the romantic leads, but the brother and sister. Johnny Depp is NOT the titular Benny, but this mistake is made often.
- Deadpan Snarker: Benny.
- Funny Schizophrenia: Averted. At first it seems like Joon's mental handicap will be played for wackiness, but the film also shows the full extent of what having a personal relationship with someone like her would entail. Her breakdown on the bus while trying to run away with Sam is particularly tragic.
- Gory Discretion Shot: In the So Bad It's Good Movie Within A Movie.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Benny, shortly after meeting Sam for the first time.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Sam is a male example.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Benny, though being Joon's brother, acts much like an Overprotective Dad, and is against Sam and Joon's relationship.
- Shout-Out: Johnny Depp's character, Sam, is a walking tribute to Buster Keaton. He also reenacts Charlie Chaplin's bread roll dance from The Gold Rush at one point.
- Depp, a Chaplin enthusiast, stated that it took him several weeks to get the entire routine down perfectly, including all the little head movements and everything. Chaplin, of course, ad-libbed it on the spot.
- Actually, Chaplin, being an almost obsessive perfectionist, would probably also have spent weeks getting the entire routine down perfectly.
- Depp, a Chaplin enthusiast, stated that it took him several weeks to get the entire routine down perfectly, including all the little head movements and everything. Chaplin, of course, ad-libbed it on the spot.
- Slice of Life
- The Stoic: Benny.
- Unusual Smoothie: among other culinary innovations.