A film based on Tobias Wolff's much-praised autobiography about his troubled youth.Caroline Wolff, divorced and with no job prospects, takes her son Toby on an aimless journey across 1950s America. They stop for a while in several towns, where Caroline gets involved with different men, but they always end up back on the road, .. Read more
| Starring | Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Blechman |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Caton-Jones |
| Genres | Drama |
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A film based on Tobias Wolff's much-praised autobiography about his troubled youth.
Caroline Wolff, divorced and with no job prospects, takes her son Toby on an aimless journey across 1950s America. They stop for a while in several towns, where Caroline gets involved with different men, but they always end up back on the road, running--until Caroline meets Dwight Hansen, a military man whom she believes will bring stability to their lives and help raise Toby.
But Dwight proves to be a sadistic dictator, determined to impose a rigid and cruel discipline on Toby. When the boy finally cannot take it anymore, he looks for any escape... even if it means he'll have to fight Dwight to get out. Features outstanding performances from both Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
| Starring | Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Blechman, Eliza Dushku, Tobey Maguire |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Caton-Jones |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 50 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: not available Production year: 1993 |
Anyone who doubts Leonardo DiCaprio's acting abilities should check out this moving coming-of-age drama. In this troubling tale set in Seattle in the 1950s, DiCaprio plays the rebellious teenage son of working mum Ellen Barkin, who finds himself locked in a battle of wills with bullying stepfather Robert De Niro. After the lightweight antics of his first American movie, Doc Hollywood, British director Michael Caton-Jones relishes the opportunity to try out meatier material and makes the most of Robert Getchell's largely unsentimental adaptation of Tobias Wolff's acclaimed autobiography. Although Caton-Jones doesn't flinch from showing the brutality of the relationship between DiCaprio, De Niro and Barkin, he still finds room for some quirky slices of humour and neatly avoids the overwrought melodrama lurking within the material. De Niro is as impressive as usual, succeeding in being both frighteningly monstrous and faintly absurd. Barkin is equally good, but this is DiCaprio's show: mature beyond his years, he is movingly believable as the confused, abused teen.
"...[DiCaprio fights De Niro] to an honorable draw, something few performers, and no other teenager, could do..." -- Rating: A