Product Description

Guys had ducktails. Cars had fins. War was over and America was on a roll. But 1950s life wasn't all fun and games -- especially for Toby Wolff and his divorced mom Caroline, free spirits whose cross-country travels end in the Pacific Northwest, where life will be better. They hope. Year: 1993 Director: Michael Caton Jones Starring: Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5777 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2003-05-13
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com
Robert De Niro gets top billing, but young Leonardo DiCaprio is the revelation of This Boy's Life, an astute, often painful drama of growing up in the 1950s Pacific Northwest, based on the autobiographical novel by Tobias Woolf. DiCaprio plays Tobias, a good kid with a bad boy streak but an unwavering love for his divorced mother (Ellen Barkin). "I want to be a better boy," he promises from under a greasy pompadour, and tries to prove it when she marries single father Dwight (DeNiro), a bully who parents through intimidation and humiliation. DiCaprio is magnetic in his first starring role, full of anger, hope, and confusion as he drifts back to juvenile delinquency, and his intensity gives the true story of survival and triumph its charge. DeNiro is frightening and pathetic as Dwight, and Dwight's youngest daughter is played by future star and vampire slayer Eliza Dushku. --Sean Axmaker

From The New Yorker
Michael Caton-Jones' absorbing film is based on Tobias Wolff's 1989 memoir of growing up in the fifties. The screenplay, by Robert Getchell (who also wrote "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"), initially presents teen-age Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his mother, Caroline (Ellen Barkin), as a pair of cheerful road-movie nomads, wandering from town to town and picking their destinations almost randomly. Their troubles start when Caroline, thinking that Toby needs a father, marries a small-town clod named Dwight (Robert De Niro), who proves to be a bully-the sort of guy who fancies himself king of the castle and takes pleasure in making his subjects bend to his will. Dwight is one-dimensional; we learn everything we need to know about him early on. Fortunately, the movie doesn't stay cooped up in his gloomy castle. And Barkin and DiCaprio are sensational. Every time De Niro threatens to take over the picture, they snatch our attention right back, and always with something casual: a look or a gesture that conveys how thoroughly this mother and son understand each other. Also with Jonah Blechman. Wonderful cinematography by David Watkin. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Stark but hopeful
I just happened to catch this film on HBO one evening and was stunned at how good it turned out to be. While I appreciate some of the remarks of earlier reviewers, I don't believe that films and books should be evaluated against the same criteria, so I am more forgiving of the bedroom scene in the film. For me, the bedroom scene between Dwight and Toby's mother serves a purpose -- to show just how much of a crude, repressed guy Dwight really is, not to mention calculating, since his bedroom behavior is about 180 degrees away from the uber-gentleman he purported to be when he was courting the mother.

In any case, the main interest of the film for me lies in the role of Toby as played by DiCaprio. I was never much impressed with him in Titantic and his other hits. He was adequate, but in my view much overrated. Here, however, his talent is much clearer to me, especially in the way he convinces me to believe that Toby is actually a good person, despite his behavior.

But the main strength of the film is Tobias Wolff's story line. For much of the film, there is an inexorable feeling of Toby marching to his ultimate doom, not unlike one of those novels of the Victorians like Thomas Hardy. There is a sense that, no matter what he ever does, Toby is destined to become a desperate adult, trapped in Concrete and probably slowly drinking himself to death after his shift is over at the local factory. The fact that Toby gets himself out of Concrete and away from his step-father, not to mention also saves his mother, is deeply hopeful. Even though the notes at the end of the film say that he was eventually expelled from the Hill School, it's clear that he went on to make something quite impressive of himself, and that he did so in spite of all of the nasty stuff that went on during his formative years.

This makes me want to recommend the film to all teens, especially boys, who feel helpless and trapped right now, as well as to the adults who care for them. Wolff's story says that no matter how difficult our circumstances, and no matter how many blunders our caregivers make, each individual still has the opportunity to shape his/her life. We are not destined for anything that we don't want for ourselves, provided we are willing to push back and fight for ourselves.

Finally, as a foster parent I found this film hopeful because it shows me that well-meaning adults like Toby's mother (and me!) may make mistakes, but that a child's failure is not completely determined by our decisions. And that's a degree of comfort for those of us who are trying hard and worry about whether we're doing the right thing.

DeNiro is fantastic and little Leo is good too!
"This Boy's Life" is based on the memoir of author Tobias Wolff. It is about a young teenage boy, Toby, and his recently divorced mother(Barkin) trying to find a new life for themselves in the Pacific Northwest of the 1950's. They bounce around from town to town, never putting down any roots, and Toby becomes more and more delinquent and uncontrollable. His mother, desperate for some security in her life and a controlling influence on Toby's life, marries a mechanic from the dreary town of Concrete by the name of Dwight (DiNiro). Dwight is a phony, bullying, louse and Toby recognizes it right off. The main part of the film chronicles Dwight's physical and mental abuse of Toby and Toby's dreams of escaping Concrete and Dwight.

This film was DOA in theaters when it premiered back in 1993. It was, however, fairly well-received by critics who especially took note of the performance of young newcomer Leonardo DiCaprio as Toby. I have even read a few critics state that DiCaprio upstaged DiNiro at every turn. That is laughable. Although DiCaprio is very good, DiNiro is fantastic. Dwight is one of his most memorable characters. At one moment Dwight can be all phony smiles and charm and the very next he is a dorky, but just as menacing, version of DiNiro's character from "Goodfellas"- Jimmy Conway. DiNiro's Dwight has a host of extremely memorable and sometimes highly amusing scenes: the Navy trick, the car ride, the candy hog, the Edsel, and, of course, Robert DiNiro in a Boy Scout's uniform.

Leo above all!
As a De Niro fan, I guess I should never say this, but I'm going to say (write) it anyway: Leo di Caprio steals the picture here! Only in "What's eating Gilbert Grape" have I seen him giving such an absolutely stunning performance, stealing the picture to Johnny Depp, another great actor that I admire.

"This boy's life" is certainly not a milestone in De Niro's career. In fact this movie closed somehow a period during which he has made a string of mediocre movies, such as "Guilty by Suspicion", "Backdraft", "Capefear", "Mistress" and "Night and the City", and he went on later to give stunning performances in great movies such as "Heat", "Casino" and "Sleepers". Although I like De Niro and di Caprio, to me "This boy's life" is just a watchable movie. The best thing this movie brought to the audience is di Caprio who, I'm sure, will certainly give other remarkable performances throughout his long and, I hope, illustrious career.