CAST: Leonardo Dicaprio - Toby, Robert De Niro - Dwight, Ellen Barkin - Caroline
DIRECTED BY: Michael Caton-Jones
Ah, young Leo...and oh how you've grown...
As my close friends should hopefully know by now, Leo is by far my favorite actor with a pulse (by that I mean River Phoenix is my number one). For being his first pretty accredited motion picture, I think he did an excellent job. Leo plays Toby Wolff, a young kid who is dragged along by his mother across the country to run away from none other than an abusive boyfriend and a forgettable past. After finally settling in Washington State, Toby's mother, Caroline (played by Ellen Barkin) meets Dwight. My first impression of Dwight was sort of this cheeseball, simple guy trying too hard to impress. Quite normal for someone trying to get the approval of the stubborn son. But, as the relationship progresses, and Toby evolves more and more into a troublemaker, Dwight's true colors begin to peak through the cracks of his gentleman exterior. When Caroline realizes that there is nothing better for her out there, she decides to settle down with Dwight in Concrete, Washington. And concrete is just what that place represents. Gray and drab.
Dwight becomes determined to straighten Toby up by getting him a paper route and enrolling him in the Boy Scouts. But aside from the conventional "good boy" duties he bestowed upon him, he has some unconventional methods of improving his behavior as well. One of my favorite nicknames that Dwight gives Toby throughout the film is "Hotshot", using it to constantly demean Toby for the fact that he enjoys singing and being a kid. While the verbal and eventually physical abuse escalates, Caroline sits back and observes without opinion. This oh so common reaction to such events didn't surprise me one bit, as she constantly tells Toby, "look at the positive things". The only think that gets Toby through hell in Concrete is knowing that he can get out and have a better life. As this aspiration for bigger and better things starts to grow, the underlying reason for Dwight's anger begins to show...his jealously of a life outside of Concrete and anyone who decides to make something of themselves.
One of my favorite, and probably one of the more emotional scenes in the film is the "mustard jar scene". Toby tells Dwight he received a scholarship to a prep school back east. Dwight decides to respond by shoving a mustard jar, which Toby earlier threw out because it was "empty", into his face, claiming it wasn't empty yet. I never thought it would be that hard to see someone shove a mustard jar repeatedly and forcefully into someone's face. Actually, I never really planned on witnessing such an event until now. This scene escalated into a full blown fight which drew the line for both Toby and finally his mother.
I really enjoy Leo because he has always been an aggressive actor to me. In this film he refused to be upstaged by the big name Robert De Niro, even though the majority of the film is made up of scenes containing just them. For being that young, and "new" i guess you can say, the spotlight surely shined on him and has continued to throughout the years.
