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THIS BOY'S LIFE Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin (1993, Warner, R, $95.99) In this bastardized video version of Tobias Wolff's tortured, affecting memoir, the lack of the large, wide-screen images reduces the emotional effects-the feelings of this film are on a big, primal scale. Leonardo DiCaprio takes the screen with his natural appeal as the troubled adolescent Wolff, trapped under the punishing thumb of his alcoholic and abusive stepfather, Dwight. As the controlling, enraged Dwight, who resents other people's happiness, De Niro does some of his best work, making the character close to a human time bomb. Neither he nor the movie ever descends into melodrama. But this extraordinarily fine film would have earned a higher grade if only the small screen didn't emasculate it. B -- Lawrence O'Toole
Posted Aug 27, 1993
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You Might Also Like
- Movie Review JACK THE BEAR;THIS BOY'S LIFE (1993) | Owen Gleiberman
- Movie News STACKING THE DECADES (1993)
- Movie Commentary The best of Leonardo DiCaprio on video (1996) | Stephen Whitty
- Movie Commentary The stigma of X rated films (1984) | Tom Wiener
- Movie Commentary Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's successful partnership (1973) | Michael Sauter
- Movie News A BRIT ABROAD
