The Basketball Diaries (1995)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Scott Kalvert

Writers (WGA):

Jim Carroll (based on the novel by)
Bryan Goluboff (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

The true story of the death of innocence and the birth of an artist

Plot:

Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction...

Plot Keywords:

Basketball | Friend | Drug | Street | Drug Addiction

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Streets of New York (International: English title) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic depiction of drug addiction with related strong violence,sexuality and language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:MA (cable rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 (video rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:14A (DVD rating) | Australia:R | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:15 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (NO. 33624) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Forest Hills High School, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

After being nominated for an Oscar for Running on Empty (1988), MTV asked River Phoenix what he wanted to do next. He responded by pulling out a beat up paperback of "The Basketball Diaries" and stated "I wanted to play Jim Carroll." Later, the Los Angeles Times declared, "River Phoenix may have wanted it too much." Leonardo DiCaprio was a fan of Phoenix's.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the film, Jim Carroll is being brutally beaten with a cricket paddle on the buttocks by one of his teachers. The amount of strokes he gets are enough to cause severe bruising or at least serious redness of the skin, yet minutes or hours later, when Jim and the boys are mooning a public ferry from a cliff, not one single bruised or red bottom is to be seen in the row of nude boys. This is inconsistent with Carroll's own words in his book.

Quotes:

Jim: Gee whiz, ma, we oughtta have these heart to heart talks more often, they're good for us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Soundtrack:

Catholic Boy

Very scary and realistic movie. As real as it gets.

Beings that this was Leonardo's first leading role, he was very impressive as Jim Carroll. The movie also stars Lorraine Bracco, Marc Wahlberg, James Madio and Patrick McGaw as his mother and sidekicks respectfully. As an ex-addict myself, I could relate to his story and everything he went through. The movie was so real it brought up a lot of old memories that I thought I had forgotten. I wish every young person was made to see this movie as it takes the fun and games out of even recreational drug use. Not even the strong survive. I give it two thumbs way up and my sincere thanks to Jim Carroll for fighting off his demons to write "The Baasketball Diaries".