Tu seras un homme

What is best about "This Boy's Life" is the acting. Don't get me wrong, though, the film in itself is also good; it's rather disturbing when you think about the fact that it is based upon a true story. But the acting… 1993 must be Leonardo DiCaprio's best year as an actor yet, his portrayal of Toby in this film is very good, and he was absolutely sensational in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?". Robert De Niro is also very good in the film, he manages to bring forward the brutal side of his character while he also lets the audience know that Dwight is a very childish man. Ellen Barkin is also good. And it was fun to see Tobey Maguire in an early role as Toby's friend -- I didn't even now that he was supposed to be in the film until there he was! Good film with really impressive acting by the three leads. (6/10)

This was a very haunting, sometimes very difficult story to watch unfold on screen. It was one of the first films I recollect seeing when I went berserk collecting tons of VHS tapes in the mid-90s. I had never heard of Leonardo DiCaprio, but I'm just I wasn't alone as this was his second or third time on screen. Anyway, he certainly gave a powerful performance and served notice he was going to be a "big name" actor.

Basically, it's about teenage kid and his mom trying to survive the mean father-husband of the family in a small town during the 1950s. Robert De Niro plays the dad and Ellen Barkin, the mom. This may be the only film I've seen in which Barkin actually played the nicest person of the leads!! Leo plays "Tobias Wolffe;" De Niro, "Dwight Hansen" and Barkin, "Caroline Hansen." She had remarried Hansen after having "Toby" earlier, hence the surname "Wolffe."

What made this story tough for me was that, to be honest, neither father nor son were nice guys, although De Niro's character was far worse. The struggles - and that's putting it tactfully - between father and son were really nasty. Yet, as unpleasant at is, the story is memorable and it haunted me for several days, especially since it is "based" on a true story. How much of this was true, I can't say, but it is a dramatic story you will not dismiss. However, watching dysfunctional families and hearing a lot of verbal abuse is not fun, so be warned.

I heard of this movie before, but I had no knowledge of what it was about, and basically rented it because it looked good and Robert DeNiro is the star--my Number One favorite actor.

Well, DeNiro's performance is one of the high points of the film, and he is extraordinary as the abusive father who seems pleasant and jovial at times, but can turn violent when you push his buttons. Leonardo DiCaprio is also great, in one of the best performances of his career. Over the years, he's been gaining a reputation as a glamour guy. And that he is, but you must see his performance in this movie before regarding him as "just another pretty face." He was still in his early teens (I'm guessing) when he made this film, so this was a long time before he hit it big with "Titanic." Ellen Barkin is also good, but I wish her character could've been developed a little more. I kept wondering, during the course of the film, why she felt like withstanding Dwight's abuse for such a long period of time. In the beginning of the film, she's established as a free spirit--the kind of woman that romances a man, then drives off to another state to find her next man. Well, why didn't she do the same thing with this jerk? The film is based on a true story, so I'm sure she really did stay with him that long, but I just wanted to know her motives.

"This Boy's Life" is a solid, beautifully made slice-of-life that kept me glued to the screen from start to finish. The climax is an emotional powerhouse that made me want to stand up and cheer. Please check out this underrated masterpiece!

My score: 9 (out of 10)

The title got it right. This is Leonardo's movie through and through. You can't wait for him to get away from his ineffectual Mother and his Stepfather. Not many young actors could hold their own with DeNiro, but Leonardo succeeds beautifully. See this movie if you still have any doubts about his acting ability; for once, the 12-year-old girls got it right by anointing him the actor of this generation.

For the last year or so, I've had my freshman writing classes read the Tobias Wolff memoir, "This Boys Life". A lot of them always think they can get away with watching the movie on cable instead, but of course (as with most movies based on books), much is missed in the screen version of this true story. The film would have you believe that young Toby is a loveable brat who fancies trouble, but the book tells of a more complex and disturbed child--one who has a rich imagination, and is essentially kind (especially to his mother), but who lies consistently and refuses to accept his own faults. Dwight is portrayed well in the film as a mean and immature man, but the movie fails to show how Toby himself paralells Dwight: they are both liars, for one; and Dwight's insistence on "molding" Toby make one wonder...Throughout the book, Toby's greatest danger at the hands of his step-father is the possibility that Dwight will succeed in turning Toby into him.

There are other things that the movie tries to work in, but does so awkwardly: Toby's friendship with Arthur, the gay boyscout, is one. As is Toby's desire to "get away" from the abusive Dwight (in the book, Toby doesn't so much want to get away from Dwight as he does want to run away and go on great swashbuckling adventures). The worst injustice on the movie's part is the ending, of course. It is completely hollywood.

The movie is enjoyable for its performances (especially DeNiros'), but viewers should realize that the "True Story" behind this movie has been given the hollywood golden touch.