This Boy's Life
THIS BOY'S LIFE (15)
D: Michael Caton-Jones
Warner Bros. (Art Linson)
US 1993
115 mins
Drama
W: Robert Getchell [based on the book by Tobias
Wolff]
DP: David Watkin
Ed: Jim Clark & Peter N. Lonsdale
Mus: Carter Burwell
Leonardo DiCaprio (Tobias Wolff), Robert DeNiro
(Dwight Hansen), Ellen Barkin (Caroline Wolff Hansen), Jonah Blechman (Arthur Gayle), Eliza Dushku (Pearl), Chris Cooper (Roy), Carla Gugino (Norma)
An autobiographical story based on the memoir by
Tobias Wolff.
During the 1950's, a rebellious teenage boy changes
his attitude when his divorced mother begins a new marriage with a bullying husband in Seattle.
This moving drama, shown entirely from the young boy's
point of view, has shades of Stand By Me in its setting and period, but is nothing like a bittersweet nostalgia tale, as it shows the abusive relationship between a violent man and his
teenage stepson.
What makes the film so arresting is the strength of
it's performances, especially Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his very early roles.
7/10
