Benny and Joon

This film is about Joon, a girl with a slight mental and emotional disability who lives with her brother, Benny. They had lost their parents in a car accident when they were young children, and Benny raised his sister. He works as a car mechanic, and continues to hire a caregiver to watch over Joon while he is at work. She continues to frusterate the hired help so greatly that they keep quitting.
One of Benny's only escapes from responsibility is to get together with his friends to play poker. Joon plays one round, and through "luck" she wins a friend's cousin to stay with her and her brother. The character of Sam is played by Johnny Depp. He becomes a close friend and first love of Joon. She longs for independence from her brother, and through the love and encouragement of Sam, together they are able to move in together by the end of the movie and pursue a long term relationship.
This movie made me think a lot about emotional disabilities. When tragedy happens in the life of a child, I believe some sort of coping skills may create a "disability". Many disabilities aren't ones that an infant is born with. Many are developed as life goes on and becomes difficult and painful. Many disabilities are just "walls" that one is surrounding themselves with to protect the psyche.
Another aspect of this movie that I found invaluable was the need of everyone to be loved. Love is a great healer of the soul, of the depths of a persons self. This movie reminded me that despite faults and downfalls of one, it is love that will cover the faults and bring out the best in a person.