Movies That Settle: Benny & Joon

"It seems to me that, I mean, except for being a little mentally ill, she's pretty normal."

I recently attended Poker Night at a friends’ house, and when the subject came up amongst the poker players that we should bet objects instead of money, I brought up that that was done in Benny & Joon, the 1993 romantic comedy starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson and Aiden Quinn. I specifically referenced one of my favorite lines of the film, when Dan Hedaya places a bet of “Soap on a rope, slightly used.” Being a little bit older than most of the crowd, I wasn’t surprised that they weren’t very familiar with the movie, but I’d bet anything, even slightly used soap on a rope, that they know the song.

For those who, like my poker brethren, are not familiar, Benny and Joon are a brother/sister combo who have lived together since their parents were killed in an auto accident when they were young. Joon (Masterson) is “mentally ill,” although her illness is never specifically named, except there is a passing reference that she “sometimes hears voices” and at one point she produces a medical ID card that says, “Supervision required at all Times/Under Medication.” My cursory online research revealed that she may be schizophrenic, but like I said, it’s never specifically mentioned. It was a different time, as they say. Mental Illness was treated very differently back then.

Benny (Quinn) supports them through his car repair shop, but has no real life of his own because of his obligation. Since Joon has been running off various housekeepers and attendants, her doctor suggests Benny place Joon in a group home where she will be cared for and be able to live among her peers (which is what most people in his position would do if this were real life), but Benny says that their living situation has been basically working for 12 years and he sees no reason to change things. At several points, the movie indicates that Benny actually needs Joon as much as she needs him, and looking at it now, not getting her the help she so obviously needs seems like kind of a dick move.

Since he doesn’t want to leave Joon alone for too long, Benny brings her to his afore-mentioned poker game. Benny leaves the table for a bit to lament to his friend, played by Oliver Platt (I forgot how many famous people were in this movie), about the group home idea and how his life is passing him by, so Joon decides to play a hand in his stead. She loses to their friend - on a flush, no less. The pot involved taking their friend’s cousin “off his hands.” The cousin, Sam, played by Johnny Depp, also appears to be on the “mentally ill” side of the spectrum, as Joon saw him earlier sitting in a tree. Upon meeting him, Joon mentions that he’s “out of his tree,” which is a great line but also the only mention of Sam’s possible neurodivergence. Benny initially wants to kick Sam to the curb, but he cleans the house expertly and makes a decent grilled cheese with a clothes iron, so he decides to let him stay as Joon’s newest caretaker. This frees Benny up a little, and he actually goes on a date with Ruthie, the waitress at the local diner and manager of a nearby apartment building (played by Julianne Moore. There really is a lot of famous people in this movie. I don’t even have time to work in William H. Macy's role.) Ruthie invites him in and starts getting a little too cozy, so he excuses himself, saying that his life is “complicated.” She is put-off by this, even though he’s not wrong. And it is a line that everyone has heard before, so really, she should just chill.

One of Sam’s quirks is that he dresses and acts like the stars of old Hollywood (Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, et al), and Benny thinks that he can take his routines on the road. When Sam and Joon tell Benny that he can’t go on the road because they are in love, Benny flips and throws Sam out. When Joon protests, he shows her the pamphlet for the group home he is considering, and she in turn flips out on him. Benny goes to Ruthie’s diner to get some tapioca to smooth things over, and Sam returns to see Joon. They decide to pack their bags and catch a bus out of town. However, because of all the stress (I guess), Joon starts hearing the voices and has a psychotic episode on the bus, and is taken to an institution (mental hospital? Looney bin? Whatever they were called then). Upon finding out their plan, Benny is even more angry at Sam, until Sam points out that Benny is just scared to lose Joon.

During a classic 90’s montage set to Joe Cocker’s “Can’t Find my Way Home,” we see Benny walking, while Sam has been taken in by Ruthie. We don’t know how much time has passed, but Benny finally seeks Sam out and together they sneak into the hospital and Benny apologizes to Joon, realizing that he has suppressed her all this time, and it is him who needed her, not the other way around. He tells her that he will give her his blessing if she wants to get an apartment, and that Ruthie has one in her building, so Joon will still be kind of overseen. Joon’s doctor asks what she wants, which is not a question that she had been asked before, I guess, and Joon is hesitant because she doesn’t believe Benny is sincere, until she sees Sam swinging by out the third story window on a window washer’s harness.

The romantic gesture moves her to say that yes, she wants her own apartment and the doctor immediately says that this is all fine and dandy and will draw up the paperwork. The final scene depicts Benny bringing flowers to Ruthie, saying his life is now much less complicated. He also brings flowers to Joon’s apartment, but decides to leave them at the door when he sees Sam and Joon standing by the ironing board, cooking up some grilled cheese. Of course, The Proclaimers “(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles” provides the soundtrack for that lovely, final moment.

Yes, that song. and yeah, I put it in twice. Sue me. It’s the one that taught Americans what “havering” is (basically talking nonsense), is from this movie. And yes, it is way more famous than the movie itself. And yes, The Proclaimers never had to work again. Everyone knows the song, but nobody at my poker game knew much about the movie. My brilliant quote about the slightly-used soap on a rope fell on mostly deaf ears. Why do we suppose that is? Well, I obviously have theories.

Roger Ebert reviewed Benny & Joon and gave it three stars out of four. In his review, he wrote, "The story wants to be about love, but is also about madness, and somehow it weaves the two together with a charm that would probably not be quite so easy in real life.” He should have left out the probably, because there’s no way it would be this easy. Years ago, I dated someone who had mental issues similar to Joon, although I’m not 100% sure because Joon’s illness is never actually named. In fact, Sam asks Benny at one point while they are having a chat (while Benny is showering, which I thought was an odd choice) how sick Joon is, and Benny’s only response is “Really sick.” I know the screenwriter couldn’t just Google different kinds of mental illness back then, but a little research may have added to the story.

Anyway, I won’t get into details, but my ex-girlfriend was, at times (a sizable chunk of the time, really), a handful to say the least, and I finally just couldn’t hack it anymore and had to leave, mostly for my own good. I had moments of guilt for a while, but therapy, and life, finally convinced me that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I wonder if we could jump ahead in Sam and Joon’s life and see if he ever had his moment of realization.

It’s possible that he did not. Strangely enough, it wasn’t until I watched this movie recently for this post and did a little research that I realized that Sam isn’t necessarily on the spectrum (at least as far as the movie says. He probably is, if this movie treated these things properly), but he is illiterate. When he goes into the video store to apply for a job, he doesn’t get any farther in the application process than his first name. I always thought that he was just awkward, but according to Wikipedia, he can’t actually read or write. He does get the job, so I guess Joon filled it out for him, as she did help him write a letter to his mother earlier. I mean, it’s not a hard job. Even I could do that one.

After Joon is taken into the hospital, Benny confronts Sam and tells him that the reason people laugh at him is because he’s “an idiot.” It’s a remark that really cuts deep because it’s actually true; Sam is kind of an idiot. He’s a nice guy who makes for a good character in a movie, and he would probably have millions of views on TikTok if this were taking place in 2025, but if I knew him in real life, I might think he’s a bit annoying. But maybe he and Joon work because that’s what love is: accepting people’s junk.

Or maybe it only works because the movie is written that way. When I was trying to be a screenwriter in the 90’s, I was told by a few people who read my scripts that I “handled weighty issues lightly.” Which I did. I thought it was mostly because I was young and dumb, but when I think back now, it might have also been because a lot of movies from back then did the same thing, and this one is no different. In fact, it might be worse. It is basically saying that this poor “mentally ill” girl, who wanders into traffic while wearing a scuba mask and carrying a ping pong paddle - and that was on a good day - can now handle living on her own because she found a boyfriend. I know it’s just a rom-com, but that’s definitely handling weighty issues lightly. It’s also a pretty shitty portrayal of neurodivergence.

So, I’m not sure if that’s the reason that nobody at my poker game knew this movie, but if I were betting on it, I’d throw in my soap-on-a-rope on that being the case. It’s actually a fun movie with an amazing cast if you don’t overthink things too much, and Aiden Quinn plays Benny with such understated grace that he is quietly the heart of the movie. No offense to Johnny Depp, because he definitely watched a lot of old movies to prepare, but that’s just homework. Quinn had to portray a person with actual depth and feelings. And they never give awards for that.

Anyway, thanks, as always, for reading. Please like and subscribe, and leave a comment if you remember this movie or have ever won a person in a poker game. If you have won any hands lately, consider buying me a coffee, or checking out my new t-shirt designs on eBay. I usually tell people to check out my stuff on Red Bubble, but I recently started using Printify, which links to my eBay account, so it’s a little more streamlined now. I mean, everyone has used eBay, right?

Thanks again. Keep on keepin’ on.