This Boy's Life

This Boy's Life

1993-04-09 1h 55m R
Drama
7.1
User Score
1043 votes

"He looked like the ideal husband. He seemed like the perfect father. That's just what they needed. But that's not what they got."

Overview

When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.

Michael Caton-Jones

Director

Robert Getchell

Writer

Top Billed Cast

Movie Details

Status

Released

Original Language

en

Budget

$N/A

Revenue

$4,104,962

Runtime

1h 55m

Release Date

1993-04-09

Recommendations

Reviews

r96sk

r96sk

2025-08-19T19:22:56.211Z

<em>'This Boy’s Life'</em> manages to produce an impressive feat: making me hate Robert De Niro! His character here, that is. I've only seen the guy in likeable roles, <em>'Meet the Parents'</em> is as close as a portrayal has come to being unlikeable. Dwight, in this, is despicable! All the aforementioned is simply a plus point for the film, though. It's obviously not overly difficult to make a person garner hatred, but I do appreciate that we see how Dwight becomes the way he is - e.g. the shooting scene. It does get a touch repetitive at times, only minorly so. Not only does this flick have De Niro, it also has one Leonardo DiCaprio - in his first leading movie role, no less. Both are excellent throughout, positives can too be remarked about Ellen Barkin's performance. Elsewhere, youthful Tobey Maguire and Carla Gugino also appear. An uncomfortable watch, but it is a very good release from 1993.