This Boys Life (film)

Plot

Nomadic, flaky Caroline Wolff (Ellen Barkin) wants to settle down in one place, find a decent man, and provide a better home for her and her son, Tobias "Toby" Wolff (Leonardo DiCaprio). When she moves to Seattle, Washington, and meets the seemingly respectable Dwight Hansen (Robert De Niro), she thinks she has accomplished her goals. Toby, however, comes to feel differently; Dwight's true personality is revealed after Toby spends a few months separated from his mother with Dwight and his children. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but his method includes emotionally, verbally and physically abusing the boy.

The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline recognizes Dwight's need to dominate everyone around him. She sticks with it, though, convinced this is best for her son, and several years of dysfunction ensue. During this time, Toby befriends a classmate, the misfit and ambiguously gay Arthur Gayle (Jonah Blechman). Toby continues to chafe under the yoke of his repressive stepfather. Hoping to leave Concrete and live with his older brother Gregory, Toby decides to apply for East Coast prep-school scholarships. Realizing his grades are not good enough to be accepted, Toby devises a plan to submit falsified grade reports. Meanwhile, the friendship between Arthur and Toby becomes strained when Arthur confronts Toby, saying he is behaving more and more like Dwight, and asks, "Why should you be the one who gets to leave?". Arthur helps his friend get the papers he needs to falsify his grade records and Toby submits his prep-school applications. When Toby assures Arthur he too can leave Concrete and have a better life, Arthur replies he will most likely stay. After numerous rejections, Toby is finally accepted by the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, with a full scholarship.

At the end of the film Caroline defends Toby from Dwight during a physically violent argument and they are both seen leaving Dwight and the town of Concrete. The real Dwight died in 1992. Caroline remarried and moved to Florida. Arthur left Concrete after all, and became a successful businessman in Italy. Dwight's children all married and stayed in Seattle.

Cast

Production

Largely filmed in the state of Washington, the town of Concrete, Washington (where Tobias Wolff's teen years were spent with his mother and stepfather, Dwight), was transformed to its 1950s appearance for a realistic feel. Many of the town's citizens were used as extras, and all external scenes in Concrete (and some internal scenes, as well) were shot in and around the town, including the former elementary school buildings and the still-active Concrete High School building.

Box office

The film was released in limited release on April 9, 1993, and earned $74,425 that weekend; upon its wide release on April 23, the film opened at #10 at the box office and grossed $1,519,678. The film would end with a domestic gross of $4,104,962.

Critical reception

The film received mostly positive reviews; review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 75% 'Fresh' rating from 36 critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus states: "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." On Metacritic, where they give a 'normalized' score, the film has a 60/100.

Home media

This Boy's Life was released on DVD May 13, 2003.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of This Boy's Life used many songs from the 1950s and early 1960s. The main titles (filmed in Professor Valley, Utah) feature Frank Sinatra's version of "Let's Get Away from It All" from his 1958 album Come Fly with Me and Toby and his mother sing "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" from the popular post-war musical South Pacific. However, most of the music reflects Toby's fondness for rock and roll and doo wop, including songs by Eddie Cochran, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Link Wray. Carter Burwell composed the film's pensive score, which featured New York guitarist Frederic Hand.