''This Boy's Life'' (titled onscreen as ''This Boy's Life: A True Story'') is a 1993 American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones (born Michael Jones; 15 October 1957) is a Scottish director and producer of film and television.
Biography
Caton-Jones grew up in Broxburn, near Edinburgh. He moved to London and squatted in Stoke Newington. He attend ...
. It is based on the
eponymous memoir by author
Tobias Wolff. The film stars
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
,
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film ''Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as '' Tender Mercies'' (1983), '' Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1 ...
and
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
(in his first feature-film lead role). The cast also features
Chris Cooper
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. Having made his debut as a stage actor, he made his Breakthrough role, breakthrough on television as Sheriff July Johnson in the acclaimed Western television miniseries ''Loneso ...
,
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino ( ; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After early roles in the films '' Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989), '' This Boy's Life'' (1993), '' Son in Law'' (1993), and '' Snake Eyes'' (1998), Gugino received wider recognition fo ...
and
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American former actress. Dushku starred as Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Faith in the supernatural Drama (film and television), drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) an ...
, as well as
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Peter Parker (2002 film series character), Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi's trilogy, ''Spider-Man'' tr ...
in his first credited appearance in a feature film.
It is the first on-screen collaboration of Maguire and DiCaprio, both of whom would work on ''
Don's Plum'' (2001) and ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...
'' (2013). It is also the first on-screen collaboration of DiCaprio and De Niro, both of whom would work together in ''
Marvin's Room'' (1996), the short film ''
The Audition'' (2015) and ''
Killers of the Flower Moon'' (2023).
Plot
In the 1950s, nomadic and flaky Caroline Wolff wants to find a decent man and settle down to provide a better home for herself and her son, Tobias "Toby" Wolff. She moves to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington, and meets Dwight Hansen, a man who seemingly meets her goals. However, Dwight's true personality is soon revealed as being emotionally, verbally and physically abusive to Toby while Caroline is away for a few weeks.
The marriage proceeds, and Caroline and Toby move into Dwight's home in
Concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
(
Newhalem in the book), a small town near the northern
Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
. Dwight's domineering personality is soon apparent, but Caroline remains with him, enduring several years of a dysfunctional relationship.
During this time, Toby befriends a classmate named Arthur Gayle, an effeminate misfit at school. Toby wants to leave Concrete to live with his older brother Gregory, who lives on the East Coast with their father. Arthur wants to leave because he knows that he will never fit in, and that there is more to life than living in Concrete.
Toby applies for scholarships at East Coast preparatory schools by submitting falsified school records. Meanwhile, Arthur and Toby's friendship becomes strained when Arthur accuses Toby of behaving like Dwight. Arthur helps Toby to falsify his grade records. After numerous rejections, Toby is accepted by
The Hill School
The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization.
The school is accredited by the Mi ...
in
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...
, near
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, with a full scholarship.
Caroline defends Toby from Dwight during a physically violent argument. Realizing that neither has a future with Dwight, both Toby and Caroline leave Dwight and the town of Concrete.
Cast
Production
''This Boy's Life'' is adapted from
Tobias Wolff's
1989 memoir, recounting his experiences with an abusive stepfather in the 1950s. The screen rights were acquired by
Peter Guber
Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American film producer, business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide and received ...
, head of Guber-Peters Productions at
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
, shortly after the memoir's 1989 publication.
Following Guber's departure to lead
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...
,
Art Linson
Art Linson is an American producer, screenwriter, and author.
Life and career
Art Linson has produced movies in every decade since the seventies including ''Fight Club'', ''Heat (1995 film), Heat'', ''The Untouchables (film), The Untouchable ...
assumed the role of producer. Although Guber is credited as an executive producer alongside his producing partner
Jon Peters, Warner Bros. initially hesitated to produce the film, deeming it commercially unviable due to its child-abuse story. Despite this, director
Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones (born Michael Jones; 15 October 1957) is a Scottish director and producer of film and television.
Biography
Caton-Jones grew up in Broxburn, near Edinburgh. He moved to London and squatted in Stoke Newington. He attend ...
insisted on the project, and the studio relented due to Caton-Jones's successful directorial track record.
After Guber obtained the rights, screenwriter
Robert Getchell
Robert Getchell (December 6, 1936 – October 21, 2017) was an American screenwriter. Getchell wrote the 1974 film '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' and created the sitcom based on that film, ''Alice''. He was nominated for an Academy Award f ...
expressed interest in writing the script. Getchell, known for adapting Tobias Wolff's older brother's memoir,
Geoffrey Wolff's ''The Duke of Deception'', was captivated by the brothers' stories and was eager to adapt the younger brother's memoir.
The film adaptation altered Geoffrey Wolff's name to "Gregory". Tobias Wolff also requested changes, such as renaming his mother from Rosemary to "Caroline" to reflect scenes created by Getchell that were not in the original book, depicting marital discord between his mother and stepfather. This alteration transformed the true story into a work of fiction, a fact initially contested by Wolff. However, after viewing the finished film, Wolff approved, recognizing that his mother might be upset about the name change.
''This Boy's Life'' marks the first cinematic lead role by actor
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
, who portrayed "Toby" at seventeen years old during filming.
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. List of awards and nominations received by C ...
was considered for the role of Toby, but lost to DiCaprio. Initially,
Debra Winger
Debra Lynn Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), '' Terms of Endearment'' (1983), and '' Shadowlands'' (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Awa ...
was to star as "Caroline" but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts, leading to
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film ''Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as '' Tender Mercies'' (1983), '' Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1 ...
taking the role. Actor
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
, playing the abusive stepfather "Dwight", extensively consulted with Tobias Wolff while preparing for the role. However, De Niro chose not to contact the real-life Dwight, who eventually died before filming commenced.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on February 23, 1992, in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, British Columbia, Canada. Dwight's dilapidated house, constructed in the woods outside of Vancouver, served as the primary set. Filming also took place for ten days in
Concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
, Washington, where crews restored the town's main street to its 1950s appearance.
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 Concrete High School building. Additional scenes were shot in the
La Sal Mountains, and
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
and
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, Utah.
Release
Box office
The film went into
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on April 9, 1993, and earned $74,425 that weekend; in its
wide release
In the motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across a country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical release in ...
on April 23, the film opened at number 10 at the box office and grossed $1,519,678. The film would end with a domestic gross of $4,104,962.
Critical response
On review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critics 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."
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of A– on a scale of A+ to F.
Home media
''This Boy's Life'' was released on
VHS
VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ma ...
on September 1, 1993, on
LaserDisc
LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
in November 1993, and on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on May 13, 2003.
Soundtrack
The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
of ''This Boy's Life'' uses many songs from the 1950s and early 1960s. The main titles (filmed in
Professor Valley, Utah) feature
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
's version of "
Let's Get Away from It All" from his 1958 album ''
Come Fly with Me''.
Toby and his mother sing "
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" is a song from the musical '' South Pacific'', sung by Nellie Forbush, the female lead, originally played by Mary Martin in the 1949 Broadway production. Her character, fed up with a man (Emile De Bec ...
" from the popular postwar musical ''
South Pacific''. However, most of the music reflects Toby's fondness for
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
and
doo wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...
, including songs by
Eddie Cochran
Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...
,
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers and
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. His 1958 Instrumental rock, instrumental single "Rumble (instrumental), Rumble", reached the ...
.
Carter Burwell
Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has frequently collaborated with the Coen brothers, having scored most of their films. He has also scored films by other directors such as Bill Condon, Todd Haynes ...
composed the film's score, which features New York guitarist
Frederic Hand.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
''This Boy's Life''film trailer at
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{Michael Caton-Jones
1993 films
1990s coming-of-age drama films
1990s biographical drama films
American biographical drama films
American coming-of-age drama films
Biographical films about children
Drama films based on actual events
Films based on biographies
Films about domestic violence
Films about child abuse
Films about dysfunctional families
Films based on memoirs
Films directed by Michael Caton-Jones
Films produced by Art Linson
Films set in Seattle
Films set in the 1950s
Films set in 1957
Films set in 1959
Films shot in Washington (state)
Films set in Washington (state)
Films scored by Carter Burwell
The Hill School
Films about the Boy Scouts of America
Films shot in Utah
Warner Bros. films
1993 drama films
Biographical films about writers
Films about mother–son relationships
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
Films with screenplays by Robert Getchell
English-language biographical drama films
1993 LGBTQ-related films
American LGBTQ-related films