This Boy's Life

This Boy's Life (1993) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

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There's a new delinquent on the block, and this one is no juvenile. He's older, wearier, sometimes a lot meaner; he goes by the name of Dad. Taking a cue, perhaps, from the Oprah/Phil/Montel circuit, two new movies feature a major star (Robert De Niro, Danny DeVito) in the role of colorfully dysfunctional father figure. This Boy's Life, which unfolds during the crew-cut 50s, is a pressure-cooker melodrama about a rebellious teenager whose new stepfather (De Niro) turns out to be a macho tyrant.

The dynamic teaming of Robert DeNiro, Ellen Barkin and Leonardo DiCaprio sparks this funny, touching slice-of-life drama that pits rebellious teen Toby (DiCaprio) against his tyrannical new stepfather Dwight (DeNiro). (Warner Bros.)

The story about the relationship between a rebellious 50s teenager and his abusive father, based on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff.

Something is off, way off, with Robert De Niro's acting. He's been working with a vengeance lately, averaging three pictures a year since 1988, and the strain is showing. So far his loyal followers have been content to lavish praise on the emperor's new clothes. Many critics watched him walk through Mad Dog and Glory as Bill Murray's stooge and applauded his zombie act as a dazzling change of pace. Others, myself included, were admittedly impressed by his flashes of showoff brilliance in Awakenings and Night and the City and overlooked the dead spots in between. But De Niro at his Seventies peak in The Godfather Part II, The Deer Hunter and the landmark Martin Scorsese trio of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull never used technique to fake the hard work of characterization. Now he does, and it's a dispiriting sight. An indisputably great actor is inching toward the black hole of self-parody.

Critics Consensus: A harrowing, moving drama about a young boy, his single mother, and his abusive stepfather, This Boy's Life benefits from its terrific cast, and features a breakout performance from a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

Trailer for Michael Caton-Jones's film starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Barkin, Jonah Blechman, Carla Gugino, Eliza Dushku, Chris Cooper, Za...

The great idea in the 1950s, if things weren't working out, was to go West. Maybe things would be better there. After her divorce, Caroline packs her son into the old Nash sedan and drives out to Washington state, hoping for a fresh start, and hoping, too, that Toby will calm down and start doing better in school. Their journey's end is the ominously named town of Concrete, where Caroline meets a man named Dwight who wants to marry her. She can't think of a better idea. Dwight offers security, a paycheck and a father figure for young Toby. This time, Caroline is determined that the marriage will work.

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones. With Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Barkin, Jonah Blechman. The story about the relationship between a rebellious 50s teenager and his abusive father, based on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff.

This Boy's Life is a 1993 film adaptation of the memoir of the same name by American author Tobias Wolff. It is directed by Michael Caton-Jones and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Tobias Wolff, Robert De Niro as stepfather Dwight Hansen, and Ellen Barkin as Toby's mother, Caroline. The film also features Chris Cooper, Carla Gugino, Eliza Dushku and Tobey Maguire in his feature film debut.[2]