The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Scott Kalvert

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Mark Wahlberg

Running time: 104 minutes

This 1995 coming-of-age drama is the cinematic adaptation of the autobiographical memoir written by poet Jim Carroll, who was a great basketball player in high school. Unfortunately, Jim and his group of friends would more often than not get into trouble off the court and most of them ended up with a severe addiction to drugs, including heroin.

The Basketball Diaries, in film version, gives us a young Leonardo DiCaprio, still developing his chops as an actor. While he had potential, he was not there just yet. Though, he had given better performances before this movie, so it may have something to do with the director. After all, a more experienced actress such as Lorraine Bracco was also over-the-top and all over the place acting-wise. It was nice to also see a young Mark Wahlberg at work. You could also see that potential in him.

The storyline itself is compelling, but I don’t like the way it was brought to the screen. Lots of melodrama and unnecessary cheesiness; and, by the end of it, the filmmaker makes you wonder if this was truly real or just a theatrical performance.

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