MovieChat Forums > This Boy's Life (1993) Discussion > Versus the Book

Versus the Book

posted 10 years ago by geraldpayne
4 replies | jump to latest

Loved Wolff's book. Read it and then decided to watch the film and was sorely disappointed. Not the fault of the movie, I don't think. It's hard, I imagine, to translate a good memoir into film. Wolff's book was a look back at his life and with that look back you could feel the wistful sadness and regret that he felt about not only his circumstances, but the way he often handled them. There was none of that in the movie. It became much more one-dimensional, focused primarily on Tobias versus Dwight. The book was more Tobias versus Tobias, full of subtlety that the movie could not replicate.

That's my take anyway.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] !!!deleted!!! (63057267) 9 years ago

I read the memoir after seeing the film and felt similarly; it was as though the movie was designed solely as a play-by-play outline of the book's most visceral events, with little attention paid to the innermost goings-on of Toby, particularly in regard to his hindsight as narrator. The decision to have DiCaprio do the voiceover was a mistake - it should have been an older actor - and there should have been more of it, along the lines of Wolff's narrative voice in the book.

However, I still believe it to be a great film, one of the best of the '90s. It's exceedingly well acted and director Caton-Jones' shot design was exceptional. It also has remarkable period recreation, and the tone and atmosphere of the book - particularly when they get to Concrete, WA - is respectably portrayed. I've recommended it to many people, with the added note that if they're impressed they should definitely read the book.

[–] MrsMonroe74 9 years ago

I saw the movie, then read the book. Dwight was more mean in the movie.

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[–] lingazi7 9 years ago

I really can't wait to read the book now, more than ever.