powermandan Among all the actors that have influenced me over the years, Leonardo DiCaprio dates back the farthest. Every time I see him in a movie, I'm completely amazed. After his breakout film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" brought him into the limelight, this film took him up a notch. It is arguably Leo's best pre-Titanic role.The Basketball Diaries is an autobiographical look into the life of Jim Carroll. Jim was a New York teenager who enjoyed horsing around and aspired to be a basketball star. Jim's environment sucks: his neighbourhood is full of poor wackos, his mother is poor, his best friend is dying or leukaemia, and his high school consists of priests and normal teachers who are physically and sexually abusive. Jim and his pals are at a boiling point. As they just want to have fun and escape the horrors around them the craziest in Jim's entourage, Mickey (played by Marky Mark) gets them a hold of drugs. Jim soon finds himself addicted with life spiralling out of control. So this is pretty formulaic: a youth with all the potential in the world escapes harsh realities by turning to drugs and hits rock bottom. But what makes this different and better than most is raw power. I started this review raving about DiCaprio's performance. He really is that good, one of his best. He is able to show such an enormous range starting with a smart teenager and ending as a junkie near death. He doesn't switch gears into the different stages of Jim's fall, he gradually flows. That's something no other young actor had the talent to do. It is so special and is so rare for anybody in anymore to tackle. No matter the stage in Jim's life, Leo plays him with such conviction. That's why this remains one of Leo's best. I know many people still rave about "Gilbert Grape" being Leo's best, but this is actually far superior. Arnie Grape was really a one-note character with little range and a small outpour of emotion. The supporting cast keeps this from being a bad movie with a great performance. This was one of Mark Wahlberg's first movies and he nails it. Ernie Hudson has a bit part as Jim's neighbour and he's awesome. And this is Lorraine Bracco's best role other than "Goodfellas." The directing is also impressive. The farther Jim descends, the more filming changes and the more cinematography does. I know Martin Scorsese did this in "Goodfellas," but The Basketball Diaries does it all in different ways. Every aspect is full of overwhelming emotion and natural raw power, keeping this from being just another drug picture.

juneebuggy Not a perfect movie and I'm not sure how faithful it is to poet (Jim Carroll's) memoirs but worth watching for the remarkable performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. Just wow, absolutely raw and heart wrenching especially at the height of his addiction. I'd also forgotten that Mark Wahlberg is in this (very young Marky-Mark days) and also Juliette Lewis.The entire movie is very dark and inconsistent in its storytelling but filled with excellent performances; following Carroll (DiCaprio) as a 1960's teen, his star basketball days and subsequent spiral into heroin addiction along with a few of his school buddies. Crime, homelessness, prostitution and chaos ensue. 02.01.14 Quotes: "First, it's a Saturday night thing when you feel cool like a gangster or a rockstar -just something to kill the boredom, you know? They call it a chippie, a small habit. It feels so good, you start doing it on Tuesdays... then Thursdays... then it's got you. Every wise ass punk on the block says it won't happen to them, but it does."

Gorka Arrechea Didn't know the movie, found it while browsing IMDb, so i wasn't expecting such a movie.It has a very powerful message, about drugs, like many other movies. But in this one you can see the process in much detail. Would say in some aspects similar to Requiem for a dream. Just maybe here you can grasp the intensity of the main character's feelings deeper.Leonardo DiCaprio, in my opinion makes a fabulous role in this movie. Although 21 years old, seems as though he was 15 (real protagonist's age), and so makes a stronger point. He is able to act scenes as though he really is a heavy heroin user therefore convincing the audience.Mark Wahlberg too, so young and great acting.Overall a dark, sometimes stressing, hard movie that I would recommend.

dan wade I watched this film recently with my girlfriend and several friends having not seen it since around the time when it first came out. I remember at the time thinking how powerful a performance Leonardo Dicaprio gave of Jim Carrol's real life character. The performance was so good I remember at the time telling friends who had recently seen Titanic, that they will be shocked by this performance as it proved he is one of the most versatile actors in cinema today and then. Over the years I have told people I have met, you need to see this movie but not many have and it seems to have sneaked under the radar a little. Therefore when It was on television recently I made everyone watch this film. Everyone who did came back to me saying the same thing, 'wasn't leo good in it'!! The scenes involving Carrol begging his mother to let him into the apartment so he can ask for money to help feed his drug habit are shockingly powerful.Its an amazing portrayal of the dangers of drug addiction and how it can effect young people who dabble with the dangers so quickly, turning their lives on its head with out them realising how it even happened. some strong messages in this film that many teenagers need to watch.Having watched it again some years later, It has dated slightly in time but not only Leo is outstanding but Mark Whalberg shows that he too was showing potential back then 15 years ago or so. I have never been too sure of Whalberg in the past sometimes mixing natural acting ability in movies such as 'the fighter' or his interesting performance of the character police detective 'dignam' in the departed with shocking performances such as 'the happening or Planet of the Apes (where to be honest I don't blame him but the directors for poor casting). But Wharlberg in this movie shows genuine class, perhaps portraying a young man who had an adolecence pretty similar to his diaries character 'mickey'.on a whole the film is a class act and hidden gem. A must see.