This Boy's Life was a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Tobias Wolff. The 1993 film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Ellen Barkin, playing the roles of the narrator, and the narrator's mother Caroline and stepfather Dwight, respectively. It also features Chris Cooper, Carla Gugino, and Eliza Dushku, as well as Tobey Maguire in a small role.

Largely filmed in the state of Washington, the town of Concrete, Washington, (where Tobias Wolff's teen years were spent with his mother and stepfather, Dwight) was transformed to its 1950s appearance for a realistic feel. Many of the town's citizens were used as extras, and all external scenes in Concrete (and some internal scenes, as well) were shot in and around the town, including the still-active Concrete High School building.

This Boy's Life used many songs from the 1950s and early 1960s. The main titles (filmed in Professor Valley, Utah) feature Frank Sinatra's version of "Let's Get Away From It All" from his album Come Fly With Me and Toby and his mother sing "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair" from the popular postwar musical South Pacific. However, most of the music in the film reflects Toby's fondness for rock and roll and doo wop, including songs by Eddie Cochran, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Link Wray. Carter Burwell composed the film's pensive score, which featured New York guitarist Frederic Hand.

Nomadic, flaky Caroline Wolff just wants to settle down in one place, find a decent guy, and provide a better home for her and her son, Toby. When she moves to Seattle and meets the respectable Dwight Hansen, she thinks she has got it made. However, Toby feels differently after spending a few months with Dwight and his children and away from Caroline. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but to do it he emotionally, verbally, and physically abuses the boy.

The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline, too, recognizes Dwight's need to dominate everyone around him. She sticks with it, though, convinced it is the best thing for her son, and several years of dysfunction ensues. During this time, Toby befriends another misfit, the possibly homosexual young Arthur, while continuing to chafe under the yoke of his repressive stepfather.