60
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie is successful largely because [DiCaprio] is a good enough actor to hold his own in his scenes with De Niro, so that the movie remains his story, and isn't upstaged by the loathsome but colorful Dwight.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranHe [Caton-Jones] has made the film all of a piece, making sure that the three lead performances complement rather than overwhelm each other. [9 Apr 1993, p.F1]
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe film is well-paced and expertly edited, allowing scenes to flow naturally into one another.
- 60The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe film recreates Toby and Caroline's aimlessness, but without appearing to understand it enough to make it as moving and important as it ought to be.
- 60Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe leads work overtime to make their characters and their relationships pungent, believable, and moving (though with regard to the rest of the cast, the movie seems less focused and confident).
- 60EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoDespite its admirable strengths and the fact of it being a true story, there is somehow a failure to completely connect with the fierce boy, giving his unhappy and alienating youth an unfortunate air of unreality.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDirector Caton-Jones ("Scandal", "Memphis Belle") once again shows his flair for period detail though he never here exerts his grip on the human drama.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversDe Niro's decision to make Dwight a loony from the get-go throws the delicate symmetry of the story out of whack.
- 50Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonIt never attains full dimension. It pursues the De Niro-DiCaprio war so singlemindedly, everything else is left high and dry.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFor This Boy's Life to work as ominous domestic drama, it's essential that we see Dwight as a flesh-and-blood monster. De Niro, unfortunately, just seems to be reveling in the chance to play another viciously demented freak, like Cape Fear's Max Cady.