‎The Basketball Diaries (1995) directed by Scott Kalvert • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Basketball Diaries

1995 Directed by Scott Kalvert

The true story of the death of innocence and the birth of an artist.

Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Leonardo DiCaprio Lorraine Bracco James Madio Mark Wahlberg Bruno Kirby Patrick McGaw Juliette Lewis Michael Imperioli Ernie Hudson Manny Alfaro Cynthia Daniel Brittany Daniel

102 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by issy 🥝 ★★ 5

not quite what I expected from troy bolton’s origin story but the guy always was a bit unpredictable
Review by Twan ★★★★ 1

Shockingly similar to Space Jam.
Review by ally ★★★★ 2

drug addicts freak me out a lot but wow leo’s performance in this was incredible, so raw and haunting
Review by Jacko ★★★

is this a prequel to the wolf of wall street
Review by JC13 ★★★★ 5

"Time sure flies when you're young and jerking off."- Jim Carroll

Happy 40th birthday to Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio! (November 11)

The Basketball Diaries tells the true story of Jim Carroll, who was a High School kid that got into drugs and many other things. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Carroll and he is terrific. He owned the role and I couldn't picture anyone else in it. Juliette Lewis is only in a few scenes, but she is great. Mark Whalberg is the other standout. The film features some very interesting camera angles, but I liked it. The music was good and The Doors' classic, 'Riders on the Storm' is put to great use. The film has a lot to say about friendship and peer pressure and I liked that a lot. It is a powerful film with many emotionally resonant moments. Yet another film that shows why you should never use drugs. 8/10
Review by Daniel Henderson (The IMDB Journey) ★★★★ 3

'DvD' Challenge #15

Proof that Leo should've been winning Oscars since he was like 20.

My 'DvD' Challenge List 1995 Movies Ranked

Recent reviews

Review by theonewithchlei ★★★★

leo crying literally gave me chills. WHEN HE CRIED FOR HIS MAMA, I LOST MY SHIT. that's all.
Review by Kyle Kean ★★★★½

I don't know why but I found this movie to just be amazing and I gotta say pre-titanic Leo>Post titanic Leo
Review by Sue🥀 ★★★★

MAYBE I'm crying
Review by Ruggeri ★★★★½

Leonardo DiCaprio gives a show of acting and carries the movie on his back. What a genius.
Review by HmmWoodcock ★★★½

Second best drugs bad movie after requiem for a dream

But in all seriousness this is really good and has one of DiCaprio's best performances
Review by Bisorov ★★★

“Diário de um Adolescente” é um filme com muitos conceitos interessantes que, infelizmente, não explora todos eles da melhor forma possível.

A direção tem identidade, e funciona muito bem em alguns momentos específicos. Algumas sequências isoladas tem um bom ritmo, uma excelente movimentação de câmera e mostram que o diretor tem uma boa noção do uso da Mise-en-scène. O diretor também consegue imprimir um bom tom pra estória, que começa mais leve e vai ficando mais sombrio conforme a narrativa se desenvolve. Porém, ele não parece encontrar o ritmo certo pro filme. Há momentos muito lentos, momentos muito rápidos e, principalmente, em um momento específico o longa acelera demais e parece pular etapas importantes. As cenas de ação são terríveis,…
Review by esme ★★★★

bruh leo manages to amaze me during every performance
Review by Hannah ★★★

3,25
Review by scheibs ★★★

They were all my friends, and they died!