Sadly Over-hyped

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

In this biopic based on true events, Leonardo Dicaprio stars in his first leading role as Jim Carroll, a high school teen in Manhattan who plays on the basketball team along with his friends Mickey (played by Mark Wahlberg), Neutron (played by Patrick McGaw), and Pedro (played by James Madio). The four begin sprawling the streets of downtown Manhattan, experimenting with illegal drugs and prostitution. Soon, they begin experimenting with heroin, which unexpectedly grows into an addiction. Before too long, their lives begin descending into a downward spiral when their addiction takes a toll on their high school career as well as their home lives.Many anti-drug movies such as Trainspotting (1996) and Requiem For a Dream (2000), succeed on painting realistic pictures on how drug addiction damages people's lives as well as deliver clear messages on why you shouldn't do drugs. This one does manage to give an authentic look on drug addiction with the main character. When you watch as he and his friends steadily transcend into a life of heroin addiction, they get involved with crime including robbery, theft, assault, and eventually homicide. They also end up getting kicked off the basketball team, expelled from school, and even exiled from the comfort of their homes. The movie does do a decent job at highlighting the perplexities that their drug addiction leads to. The main problem however is that the story pays very little emotional investment, and it makes the plot less effective than it should be, not to say that it fails to deliver its message. Aside from this, as the story approaches its final act, the film goes into some rather strange directions. For instance, one of the characters leaves the group not wanting to grow further into the heroin addiction. From there on out, we never learn what happens to him or what. Then there are some drug-charged hallucination scenes like the infamous school shooting scene and a scene showing Leonardo Dicaprio's character get shot while shooting a basketball that made almost no sense.Overall, Basketball Diaries is not too bad for a film. Even though it may not be as effective or believable as other drug-themed movies, it still manages to be somewhat powerful and deliver its message. The cast also deliver some good performances, especially Mark Wahlberg.

Not a perfect movie and I'm not sure how faithful it is to poet (Jim Carroll's) memoirs but worth watching for the remarkable performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. Just wow, absolutely raw and heart wrenching especially at the height of his addiction. I'd also forgotten that Mark Wahlberg is in this (very young Marky-Mark days) and also Juliette Lewis.The entire movie is very dark and inconsistent in its storytelling but filled with excellent performances; following Carroll (DiCaprio) as a 1960's teen, his star basketball days and subsequent spiral into heroin addiction along with a few of his school buddies. Crime, homelessness, prostitution and chaos ensue. 02.01.14 Quotes: "First, it's a Saturday night thing when you feel cool like a gangster or a rockstar -just something to kill the boredom, you know? They call it a chippie, a small habit. It feels so good, you start doing it on Tuesdays... then Thursdays... then it's got you. Every wise ass punk on the block says it won't happen to them, but it does."

This movie isn't awful, but it isn't that good either. I agree with most people who said this is probably one of Leo's best performance. But the movie itself has lots of flaws. First off, the screenplay sucks. I didn't sympathize with the main character at all. The movie tries to tell you that if you do drugs you could as well be throwing your future away, but truth is, the kids in this movie have been throwing their future away before they even do drugs.And what's with one of their friends' sudden change of behavior? Out of a sudden he's telling his friends not to do drugs? What's the reason? And what's with the scene where Jim begs Diane for money? Now Diane's suddenly clean and sober? How?Actually, Leo's performance is the ONLY thing that makes this movie worth watching. Everything else about it sucks (well, pretty much).

This film isn't for everyone, you either hate it or love it. It sometimes lacks that constant up-beat easy to watch feel that certain types of audiences need to enjoy a film and is replaced with brutal honesty.The performances from all of the actors were outstanding, with Leonardo DiCaprio performing some of the best acting I have ever seen. His portrayal of Jim was so real and raw that he gave so much of himself to the role that it began to look effortless. So many scenes in this movie were beautifully done. A few stand out moments to name: The basketball scene in the rain, every confrontation between Jim and his mother, and the Withdrawal scene where once again Leo gives a spine tingling performance. If you want to enjoy The Basketball diaries you must go into it with an open mind and take the film for what it is. It isn't a fancy, modern, stylized, glamorized film about drugs but rather an honest, raw, bold and touching movie about the self-destruction of a boy who falls head first into the harrowing world of drug addiction. This movie for me is an overlooked, underrated piece of art. Which is why I love it. I wouldn't change one thing about it.