Review of This Boy's Life (1993) by Kerryn S — 26 Apr 2008

This hard-hitting, truthful coming-of-age drama benefits from the stellar acting abilities of both De Niro and DiCaprio. The two actors feed off each other's energy, and the result is a highly interesting movie drawn from a simple but deeply moving script.

Both actors have such textured, complex performance that the acting becomes the main point of the film instead of the story. DiCaprio plays a confused, angry young man who can't pull himself away from a compulsion to break the rules and De Niro plays a schoolyard bully who never grew up.

The film is so painful and harsh and gripping that I can't deny its merit as a solid drama. I love it to pieces.