Based on on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff, the movie follows Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a rebellious 50s teenager, who plans an escape as his stepfather believes violence is the best way to discipline him.
The film demands ominous electricity between Dwight and Toby, the latter of whom endures various and sundry humiliation and harm at the former's hands. And there are times when DiCaprio doesn't just go toe-to-toe with De Niro but feels just as tall.
An indisputably great actor is inching toward the black hole of self-parody.
Empire Magazine
February 08, 2010
A young DiCaprio steals the show in this tale of learning how to be a man, with a sly De Niro also giving a good performance, but with a plot that drags on too long.
This Boy's Life is so steeped in period detail (music, cars, television shows, hair styles) that Toby and Caroline's sad, bumbling search for freedom seems secondary, almost impolite to the decor.
Film4
February 08, 2010
De Niro and Birkin are reliable in this atmospheric drama, but it's DiCaprio who really shines.
Something more subtle is going on in Wolff's book, a confrontation with a richer, quirkier past and his emerging self that the movie too often brushes aside.
