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Basketball Diaries (The)

Country: USA, Language: English, 102 mins

  • Director: Scott Kalvert
  • Writer: Jim Carroll; Bryan Goluboff
  • Producer: Chris Blackwell; Dan Genetti

CGiii Comment

Teen drug dramas are ten-a-penny - this presents nothing new.

The direction is bog-standard - a surprise, considering Kalvert is more in tune with the MTV video generation.

With films such as Requiem on offer - more relevant to the MTVers, this is an opportunity wasted.

Interesting to see the nascent careers of some big names - but, it has been overtaken by more superior films.

The piss poor ending doesn't help its case - in the slightest.


Trailer...

 

The(ir) Blurb...

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.

Cast & Characters

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll;
Lorraine Bracco as Jim's Mother;
Marilyn Sokol as Chanting Woman;
James Madio as Pedro;
Patrick McGaw as Neutron;
Mark Wahlberg as Mickey;
Roy Cooper as Father McNulty;
Vincent Pastore as Construction Worker;
Bruno Kirby as Swifty;
Jimmy Papiris as Iggy;
Nick Gaetani as Referee #1;
Alexander Chaplin as Bobo;
Ben Jorgensen as Tommy;
Josh Mostel as Counterman;
Juliette Lewis as Diane Moody