The Basketball Diaries is the story of the true experiences of Jim Carroll, underground poet and entertainer, and how he overcame drug addiction to become what he is today. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Carroll. The film is not for the squeamish and it has the best drug withdrawal scenes since Frank Sinatra did Man With The Golden Arm.
We first meet Leo with his friends Mark Wahlberg, Patrick McGaw, and James Maddio as a group of delinquent Catholic school kids. They all play basketball and they all are constantly in trouble. DiCaprio is your kid with all the teen angst and self conscious about his lower class status. His mother, Lorraine Bracco, works as a chambermaid in some swank Manhattan hotel and I'm sure she parts with some big bucks to see her kid gets a Catholic school education. There's no father in the picture.
But drugs of all kinds are available and the whole group of them get hooked with the exception of McGaw who breaks with his friends. The title is based on the notebook diary writings that DiCaprio keeps. Eventually they're published and Carroll is acclaimed and still today as a writer who speaks to young people today.
Leo and the rest of the cast give some terrific performances. It's easy to see why he and Mark Wahlberg became the stars they have with this film. Also Bruno Kirby as the closeted gay basketball coach who misreads DiCaprio's mind and comes on to him is also a standout.
The Basketball Diaries hopefully if seen by some of the young will serve as a 'scared straight' guide to saying no to drugs. This film really does show the horrible consequences of a destructive drug habit and the fact it can be beaten and one can live a most useful life.
