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This Boy's Life | 1993 | R | - 4.6.7
Ellen Barkin, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio star in this film adaptation of Tobias Wolff's much-acclaimed memoir, about growing up with an abusive step-father and a flighty, but loving mother.
SEX/NUDITY 4 - No actual nudity. There are two sex scenes, though: one involves dirty talk, and groping and kissing while a bed is shaking. The other is rather more explicit, as one character talks about unorthodox sexual positions. There's lots and lots of sex talk, and some hint of homosexual attraction between adolescents (a tentative kiss on the cheek from one boy to another).
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - One fight between two boys involves punching and rolling around in the mud. The result is a few welts on one of the boy's face. More serious is the violence between a boy and his stepfather: when the stepfather tries to show his stepson how to box, a fight erupts. In another scene, the two go at it with fists, dishes, a mop, a bat, and all manner of home-furnishings. In yet other disturbing scenes, the stepfather pinches, punches, bites, kicks or tries to strangle the boy. He even grinds a near-empty mustard jar into his stepson's eye. Gore consists of a bloody finger.
LANGUAGE 7 - A lot of profanity, especially among teenagers. There are approximately 20 F-words, as well as several references to the male and female anatomy.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Premarital sex, homosexuality, child abuse, family violence and neglect, forgery, lying, smoking at a very young age, vandalism and truancy.
MESSAGE - You can change your life, and it may be as easy as just walking away from a troubled situation. You don't have to settle for less than any human deserves.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
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Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.