THE BASKETBALL DIARIES
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.1
U.S. Availability: general release 4/21/95 Running Length: 1:42 MPAA Classification: R (Drug use, profanity, sexual themes, violence)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, James Madio, Patrick McGaw, Lorraine Bracco, Ernie Hudson, Bruno Kirby, Juliette Lewis Director: Scott Kalvert Producers: Liz Heller and John Bard Manulis Screenplay: Bryan Goluboff based on the novel by Jim Carroll Cinematography: David Phillips Music: Graeme Revell Released by New Line Cinema
The best anti-drug movies are the ones that eschew sermons. Nothing turns off an audience faster than a film that becomes pedantic. However, when a production gets the message across through a story that lacks even a trace of artifice, its effectiveness is indisputable. Such is the case with THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, film maker Scott Kalvert's updating of Jim Caroll's autobiographical novel. The tale related here isn't all that original, but the honest presentation lends impact to a wrenching scenario.
Jimmy Carroll (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a star basketball player on his New York City Catholic school team. Fellow roundballers Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) and Neutron (Patrick McGaw) and unofficial cheerleader Pedro (James Madio) are Jimmy's closest friends, and whenever trouble stalks one, it invariably affects them all. So, when the drug cycle starts, it quickly spreads to each of the four corners of the friendship. What begins as casual use first becomes a weekend habit, then an everyday obsession. Grades plummet, on-court performance becomes unreliable, and crime looms as the only means to pay for a seemingly-endless supply of uppers, downers, cocaine, and heroin.
There have been quite a few addiction movies, but most are surface melodramas, concerned with busting the bad guys or facilitating a Hollywood-style transformation from user to productive member of society. Films like THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, which paint a stark, ugly portrait of drug abuse, are rare. This is not the type of picture likely to draw big at the box office. Much of what's shown is simply too raw for audiences out for a couple hours' entertainment.
In THIS BOY'S LIFE, Leonardo DiCaprio played a young man coming of age in the Pacific Northwest. Here, though his character undergoes a far different change, the actor's performance is equally on-target. Because it demands so much range, the role of Jimmy Carroll requires more effort, but DiCaprio doesn't miss a beat.
The decay of the individual always makes for powerful drama. Such was the case with Cyril Collard's SAVAGE NIGHTS, and it is no less true here. The teen years -- an age of rebellion and uncertainty in the best of circumstances -- can be devastating when an individual loses control. THE BASKETBALL DIARIES captures this with brutal effectiveness. Facile escapes are rejected, and the resolution is acceptable because we can believe it. In fact, that's the reason this film works as well as it does: credibility. You won't need many fingers to count the times when scenes ring false. By another name, call this HOOP NIGHTMARES.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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