The Basketball Diaries

Overview
Based on the autobiographical journals of poet Jim Carroll, BASKETBALL DIARIES follows the descent of a Catholic high school student from star basketball player to drug addict. Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his friends roam the streets of New York City as goof-offs, petty thieves, and junkies. Expelled from school for using drugs before a game, Jim is also thrown out of his house and takes up street hustling. A pre-superstardom DiCaprio gives a strong performance in this gritty and uncompromising look at being young and streetwise.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Details
- Format: DVD
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 660200310028
- Genre: DRAMA
- Rating: R (MPAA)
- Release Date: June 1998

Movie Reviews
Notes:
Excerpts of Jim Carroll's book "The Basketball Diaries" first appeared in "The Paris Review" in 1970. The book was published in 1978.
Jim Carroll's song "People Who Died" was a New Wave hit in the early 1980s.
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.
Additional credits: Kathie Hersch (line producer); Diana D. Schmidt (unit production manager); David C. Dean, Robert C. Albertell (assistant directors); David C. Robinson (costume design); Verne Caruso (hairstylist); Joshua Wingett (music editor); Billy Gottlieb (music co-ordinator).
Reviews:
"...DiCaprio is electrifying....A wild ride fueled by profane wit and hallucinatory power..." - 03/23/1995 Rolling Stone, p.127-8
"...[The film] pulsates as an early-'60s time capsule..." - 04/21/1995 USA Today, p.7D
"...Energetic....A glimpse of the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be." - 04/21/1995 Entertainment Weekly, p.39
"...[DiCaprio delivers] a game, highly emotional performance that further confirms previous indications of a major talent..." - 02/06/1995 Variety
"...[DiCaprio is] a stunning natural performer who hides nothing, with the wrenching expressions of a latter-day James Dean..." - 04/21/1995 New York Times, p.C12
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