When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.
Acting
De Niro's most underrated villain; DiCaprio's breakthrough fire.
Production
1950s kitsch decaying into domestic horror.
Director
Michael Caton-Jones
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was DiCaprio's first major studio lead; he beat out 400 kids after a raw audition where he refused to leave the room.
The real Tobias Wolff makes a cameo as the man who offers young Toby a gun—his actual stepfather died believing Wolff had exaggerated, never reading the memoir.
US
