Film Summary: The Basketball Diaries

The movie is based on the 1978 book The Basketball Diaries, and focuses on the basketball hopeful Jim Carroll (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his real life story. Jim attends high school with his friends who are all exceptional basketball players and Jim enjoys capturing their experiences in poetry. The basketball team is by far the best in their division and many of the players are being scouted to play college ball. Although Jim and his friends live for the game they all seem to be displeased with their school and basketball coach and are showing a curiosity for their inner city world.

Jim, Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) and Pedro (James Madio) show just how easy a group of inner city kids can change their life for the worse by making bad decisions. Jim and his friends get their first taste of the exciting world of drugs when they hook up with some girlfriends. It doesn’t take long for them to become overtaken by heroin thus beginning the downward spiral of their lives. The physical and emotional roller coaster of drug use that the boys are taken on is depicted quite well by Scott Kalvert’s use of creative visual effects.

The boys discover that to support their addiction they will need cash. This is where Jim’s story becomes all too real and depressing. They start with robbing elderly women and eventually move to breaking into businesses. Jim hits a low when he turns to prostituting his own body to make a little cash for his next high. The film doesn’t cut any corners as it takes the viewer along on Jim’s destructive journey.

When Jim’s mom (Lorraine Bracco) realizes she has lost all ability to get through to her son she has a breakdown and ends up throwing Jim out on the street. Jim’s physical and mental degradation escalated to the point of near death because he has nowhere to go. Jim hits his low when he is found lying unconscious in the snow on a neighborhood basketball court where he is rescued by an old friend named Reggie (Ernie Hudson) who takes him in during his detoxification. Jim’s journey through detox is quite long and detailed as Kalvert attempted to show just how real the process is. Although the majority of the film is depressing there is a slight ray of hope at the end when we discover Jim turned his life around and now speaks of his journey.

The film does an exceptional job detailing the life of Jim Carroll and his complete journey through drug use. The message of “drugs are bad” seems to be pushed hard in the film which might make the movie feel a bit preachy. Those who have older teenagers that have not been exposed to the realities of the drug world might want to consider this films no holds barred introduction to that world. The role of Jim Carroll was performed beautifully and was one of the great Leonardo DiCaprio movies of his early acting career.