The Basketball Diaries (film)
| The Basketball Diaries | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Scott Kalvert |
| Produced by |
Liz Heller John Bard Manulis |
| Written by |
Jim Carroll (Novel) Bryan Goluboff (Screenplay) |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | David Phillips[1] |
| Edited by | Dana Congdon |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.4 million[2] |
The Basketball Diaries is a 1995 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Scott Kalvert, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, James Madio, and Mark Wahlberg. The film is an adaptation of Jim Carroll's autobiographical work of the same name, telling the story of Carroll's teenage years as a promising high school basketball player and writer who developed an addiction to heroin with his misguided friends.
Plot
The film is an adaptation of poet and memoirist Jim Carroll's juvenile diaries chronicling his kaleidoscopic free-fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. The role of Jim is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers on his friends and the basketball court; the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. Bobby (Michael Imperioli), a best friend who is dying of leukemia; a coach ("Swifty", played by Bruno Kirby) who makes sexual advances to Jim; and an appetite for cocaine and heroin begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. After Bobby succumbs to his illness, Jim tries heroin for the first time and quickly becomes hooked.
After Jim is suspended from school due to playing a basketball game while under the influence of drugs, he drops out. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from Jim's mother's mounting concern for her son. It is revealed that Jim’s mother threw him out of their apartment earlier for cursing her out over his drug usage. As a result, Jim cannot go back home due to his drug use. The only escape that Jim has from the reality of the streets is heroin, for which he steals, robs, and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie (Ernie Hudson), an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, he is able to begin the long journey back to sanity. Ultimately, Jim's mother has him arrested when he shows up at her home stoned and high and demands money. The journey ends with Jim's incarceration in Riker's Island for four crimes: assault, robbery, resistance of arrest, and possession of narcotics. After Jim spends months in prison and ceases his drug use, he gets released, changes his life, and performs poetry drawn from his diaries.
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll
- Lorraine Bracco as Mrs. Carroll
- James Madio as Pedro
- Patrick McGaw as Neutron
- Mark Wahlberg as Mickey
- Roy Cooper as Father McNulty
- Bruno Kirby as Swifty
- Alexander Chaplin as Bobo
- Juliette Lewis as Diane Moody
- Michael Imperioli as Bobby
- Michael Rapaport as Skinhead
- Ernie Hudson as Reggie
- Manny Alfaro as Manny
- Cynthia Daniel as Winkie
- Brittany Daniel as Blinkie
- Jim Carroll as Frankie Pinewater
Reception
The film currently holds a 46% "Rotten" rating at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[3] Roger Ebert gave two stars out of four, concluding, "At the end, Jim is seen going in through a "stage door," and then we hear him telling the story of his descent and recovery. We can't tell if this is supposed to be genuine testimony or a performance. That's the problem with the whole movie."[4]
Lawsuits
After the 1997 Heath High School shooting, activist Jack Thompson brought this film into a $33 million lawsuit in 1999 claiming that the film's plot (along with two internet pornography sites, several computer game companies, and makers and distributors of the 1994 film Natural Born Killers) caused 14-year-old Michael Carneal to shoot members of a prayer group. The case was dismissed in 2001.[5][6]
The film became controversial in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre and the Heath High School shooting, when critics noted similarities between these shooting attacks and a dream sequence in the film in which the protagonist wears a black trenchcoat and shoots six classmates in his school classroom. The film has been specifically named in lawsuits brought by the relatives of murder victims.[7][8][9][10]
Soundtrack
The Basketball Diaries soundtrack was released in 1995 by PolyGram to accompany the film, featuring songs from Pearl Jam and PJ Harvey. AllMusic rated it three stars out of five.[11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Catholic Boy" | Jim Carroll | Jim Carroll with Pearl Jam | 3:05 |
| 2. | "Devil's Toe" | Jim Carroll | Graeme Revell with Jim Carroll | 0:56 |
| 3. | "Down by the Water" | P J Harvey | P J Harvey | 3:14 |
| 4. | "What a Life!" | Glyn "Bigga" Bush, Richard "DJ Dick" Whittingham, Rob McKenzie | Rockers Hi-Fi | 4:02 |
| 5. | "I Am Alone" | Jim Carroll | Graeme Revell with Jim Carroll | 1:33 |
| 6. | "People Who Died" | Jim Carroll, Brian Linsley, Steve Linsley, Terrell Winn, Wayne Woods | The Jim Carroll Band | 5:00 |
| 7. | "Riders on the Storm" | Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek | The Doors | 6:56 |
| 8. | "Dizzy" | Ty Willman, Mari Ann Braeden, Danny K, Bob "Mink" Martin, Steve Ross | Green Apple Quick Step | 3:10 |
| 9. | "It's Been Hard" | Jim Carroll | Graeme Revell with Jim Carroll | 0:53 |
| 10. | "Coming Right Along" | Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow | The Posies | 6:17 |
| 11. | "Strawberry Wine" | Salvadore Poe, Adam Flax | Massive Internal Complications | 3:59 |
| 12. | "Star" | Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy | The Cult | 5:00 |
| 13. | "Dream Massacre" | Graeme Revell | 1:23 | |
| 14. | "I've Been Down" | Flea | Flea | 4:38 |
| 15. | "Blind Dogs" | Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil | Soundgarden | 4:40 |
| Not featured on CD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
| 1. | "Dancing Barefoot" | Patti Smith, Ivan Kral | Johnette Napolitano | |
| 2. | "Watusi Latin Boogaloo" | Joey Altruda | The Joey Altruda Latin Explosion | |
References
- ↑ Levy, Dani (2017-02-23). "David Phillips, 'The Basketball Diaries' Cinematographer, Dies at 60". Variety. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=basketballdiaries.htm
- ↑ "The Basketball Diaries". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ↑ Ebert, Roger. "The Basketball Diaries". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ↑ Chalk, Andy (2007-07-07). "Legally Insane: A History of Jack Thompson's Antics". The Escapist. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
- ↑ AP (April 13, 1999), Media Companies Are Sued in Kentucky Shooting, The New York Times
- ↑ Carter, Nick (1999-05-06). "Linking of 'Basketball Diaries,' Columbine Shootings Upsets Author". CatholicBoy.com. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ↑ "Moral Panics and Violence in the Media" Archived 2010-11-18 at the Wayback Machine.. Mediaknowall.com. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ↑ "Media Companies Are Sued in Kentucky Shooting". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ↑ Sink, Mandy (2002-03-06). "National Briefing: Rockies; COLORADO: COLUMBINE LAWSUIT DISMISSED". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ↑ The Basketball Diaries at AllMusic
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