Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Please don't spend money on this.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The film brings us to the late 60s teenagers everyday life from a New York City in the USA. The main actor is Jim and his friends from catholic school are on the best basketball team in New York. Parallel with this Jimmy writes his thoughts into his small diary including his experiments with drugs, that lead him to addiction and erects huge problems with rehabilitation. He lost everything that he had before and nobody could help or give him an advice. The main idea is that even if you have a dream and all possibilities and qualities to receive it, you can lose everything with one decision, which will have consequences in another part of your life. My favorite scene is where Jim went to his friend Bobby demonstrated to him that Bobby important to him. It was also very hard psychological moment, when he started to fight and wouldn't give up to make his life as it used to be. And I also like the scene, where he stays alone and starts to write poetry or only his thoughts in his diary, which hit to the depths of the soul and help audience Toto visit his skin and feel the same.

Among all the actors that have influenced me over the years, Leonardo DiCaprio dates back the farthest. Every time I see him in a movie, I'm completely amazed. After his breakout film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" brought him into the limelight, this film took him up a notch. It is arguably Leo's best pre-Titanic role.The Basketball Diaries is an autobiographical look into the life of Jim Carroll. Jim was a New York teenager who enjoyed horsing around and aspired to be a basketball star. Jim's environment sucks: his neighbourhood is full of poor wackos, his mother is poor, his best friend is dying or leukaemia, and his high school consists of priests and normal teachers who are physically and sexually abusive. Jim and his pals are at a boiling point. As they just want to have fun and escape the horrors around them the craziest in Jim's entourage, Mickey (played by Marky Mark) gets them a hold of drugs. Jim soon finds himself addicted with life spiralling out of control. So this is pretty formulaic: a youth with all the potential in the world escapes harsh realities by turning to drugs and hits rock bottom. But what makes this different and better than most is raw power. I started this review raving about DiCaprio's performance. He really is that good, one of his best. He is able to show such an enormous range starting with a smart teenager and ending as a junkie near death. He doesn't switch gears into the different stages of Jim's fall, he gradually flows. That's something no other young actor had the talent to do. It is so special and is so rare for anybody in anymore to tackle. No matter the stage in Jim's life, Leo plays him with such conviction. That's why this remains one of Leo's best. I know many people still rave about "Gilbert Grape" being Leo's best, but this is actually far superior. Arnie Grape was really a one-note character with little range and a small outpour of emotion. The supporting cast keeps this from being a bad movie with a great performance. This was one of Mark Wahlberg's first movies and he nails it. Ernie Hudson has a bit part as Jim's neighbour and he's awesome. And this is Lorraine Bracco's best role other than "Goodfellas." The directing is also impressive. The farther Jim descends, the more filming changes and the more cinematography does. I know Martin Scorsese did this in "Goodfellas," but The Basketball Diaries does it all in different ways. Every aspect is full of overwhelming emotion and natural raw power, keeping this from being just another drug picture.

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.

Catholic schoolboy Jim Carroll (Leonardo DiCaprio) lives with his mother (Lorraine Bracco). He's the brash leader of his friends Pedro (James Madio), Neutron (Patrick McGaw) and Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) sniffing glue and causing trouble. They play winning basketball for their lecherous coach Swifty (Bruno Kirby). His best friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) is dying of leukemia. He plays neighborhood ball with Reggie (Ernie Hudson). He starts to do cocaine and then heroin which sends him down a very dark road.The movie seems to take place in both the present day and somewhere in the 60s. That conflicted feel along with the poetic diary entries create a surreal dreamlike vibe. It takes the tension out of the movie and limits the immediacy. Leo and everybody do a good job. Leo's star power shines and keeps the movie interesting. However, I just don't feel a sense of danger from this dark coming-of-age movie.