
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993                   TAG: 9304240293
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JUDY GERSTEL KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOOD PERFORMANCES MAKE `BENNY & JOON' BETTER THAN ITS FLAWS

The best thing about "Benny & Joon," besides the poised, appealing performances, is that it's harmless. Unfortunately, it is also pointless and shameless.

Nevertheless, the story of two talented, lonely naifs lighting up each other's life may have some appeal for moviegoers who don't bruise easily when whimsy smacks them brutally in the face for two hours.

Benny (Aidan Quinn) is an auto mechanic devoted to caring for his disturbed sister Juniper (Mary Stuart Masterson). Their parents were killed in an auto accident that Benny and June witnessed as youngsters. We witness it, too, in flashback. Never clear is whether the accident predated or triggered June's emotional disability - and complementary gift for painting; there's always a complementary gift with disability in the movies.

Very clear is the siblings' dilemma. Will June stop acting out so Benny can get a housekeeper to stay with her? Or will Benny have to put her in a group home?

Or, this being the movies, will an equally daft, equally gifted handsome young male show up to be the housekeeper, pool his mental resources with June's, make love to June and free up Benny to live a normal life?

Sam (Johnny Depp) is a sweet, simple soul, another outsider like June. She can't think properly, but she can read and write. He can think straight, but he can't read or write properly - hence Joon.

Sam's gift: He's a gentle, agile clown and magician. Dressed in suspenders and top hat, he perches in trees, makes grilled cheese sandwiches by ironing them (wool or silk setting is at issue here) and reads in the bathtub, fully clothed.

Sam also knows everything about old movies. He is, of course, the quintessential post-literate 20-something, the slacker with a soft, fuzzy edge.

Depp is such a natural at this, so graceful in normal movement and Chaplinesque bits, that we're more delighted than disgusted at his reprising Edward Scissorhands. But enough is enough. The question is whether Depp's considerable on-camera charisma can survive in the form of a real, whole person.

"Benny & Joon" is the product of novice screenwriter Ben Berman, whom the press kit identifies as a graduate of the Ringling Brothers Clown College, and director Jeremiah Chechik ("National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation").

Benny & Joon: Showing at the Salem Valley 8. Rated PG for a bed scene without nudity.

by CNB