Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for he... (Full plot summary below)
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Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin -- all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity.
Leave your thoughts about The Basketball Diaries.
| MovieholeClint MorrisDi Caprio gives a bravura turn that should've won him an Oscar |
| Arkansas Democrat-GazettePhilip Martin...an intoxicating, frightening and emotionally honest essay on the self-destructive impulses of the nascent artist. |
| Ozus' World Movie ReviewsDennis SchwartzWhat almost saves the muddled pic from fouling out is the raw dynamic performance by Leonardo DiCaprio... . |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe tale related here isn't all that original, but the honest presentation lends impact to a wrenching scenario. |
| IGN DVDR. L. ShafferAn uncomfortable experience, to say the least. But also quite rewarding. |
| Groucho ReviewsPeter CanaveseIt was impossible in The Basketball Diaries not to take notice of DiCaprio's seemingly undauntable talent, as he channeled the tortures of the drug-addicted damned. [Blu-ray] |
| IGN DVDR.L. ShafferAn uncomfortable experience, to say the least. But also quite rewarding. |
| Washington PostHal HinsonIt's a tough, intense, wrenching picture about drugs and growing up and surviving, driven by a fierce, skinless performance by its star, Leonardo DiCaprio. |
| Rolling StonePeter Travers[Kalvert] best serves the movie by simply focusing on DiCaprio, who communicates the spirit and blunt truth of the diaries even when the movie keeps trying to soften the blow. |
| Dallas ObserverMatt Zoller SeitzKalvert and Goluboff overcome predictability by developing the film's characters and atmosphere instead. The result is a turbocharged ode to the lithe bodies and swaggering souls of boys who believe they're invincible - a glorious love song of youthful self-destructiveness. |
