The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Director:

Scott Kalvert

Writers (WGA):

Jim Carroll (novel)
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:

Male Rear Nudity | Money | Paddle | Corporal Punishment | Sex

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
Bruno Kirby	...	Swifty
Jimmy Papiris	...	Iggy
Nick Gaetani	...	Referee
Alexander Chaplin	...	Bobo
Ben Jorgensen	...	Tommy
Josh Mostel	...	Counterman
Juliette Lewis	...	Diane Moody
Michael Imperioli	...	Bobby

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) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-15 (video rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | 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 (certificate #33624) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jim Carroll]

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Several late-model cars can clearly be seen driving by the windows in the background at the hamburger joint although the film is set in the 1960s.

Quotes:

Jim's Mother: Idle time is the devil's play thing

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Soundtrack:

Coming Right Along

A comparison

I can't believe that Requiem For A Dream is on the top 250 list but this isn't. I never thought this movie would be so incredibly underrated! This was the only movie that made me completely swear off drugs. The characters are so young and vulnerable and you get to see them slowly fall into this world of drugs and violence and be completely swept away.

In Requiem For A Dream, the characters start out doing some harder drugs and you barely get to see where everything goes wrong, it just seemed to be like that all of a sudden. The characters aren't as likable and I thought it ended a bit abruptly leaving us no knowledge of what is to become of the characters. I have to give it props though for some brilliant scenes like when they all go into the fetal position at the end.

Basketball Diaries on the other hand gets you involved and attached to the characters. You get to watch them throw away their basketball careers and their lives. The part where Lewis is going through withdrawal is so real and horrible. And after he goes through all that pain, he throws it away and goes straight back to the drugs. This movie is so incredible, I really wish more people would see it and think the same.

Shay