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Special Features
- Interviews with Leonardo DiCaprio, 'Mark Wahlberg' , 'James Madio' , Patrick McGaw, Ernie Hudson, Lorraine Bracco, Bruno Kirby, director Scott Kalvert and producer Liz Heller
- Anti-drug trailer
- TV spots
- Palm pictures DVD preview
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jim Carroll, the poet and musician who spent much of his adolescence addicted to heroin and shooting hoops with fellow Catholic high school kids. As a biography, the film doesn't amount to more than the sum of its gritty scenes of smack use, violence, perversions (poor Bruno Kirby plays a lecherous coach who comes on to young Jim), and the usual scream-and-puke dramas that go along with a cold-turkey session. Director Scott Kalvert doesn't seem to realize that most people don't know who Carroll is and therefore can't possibly understand why they should care about his gutterball youth. DiCaprio, having nowhere to go with his performance but maintain Carroll's tailspin, is boring and redundant. Some kind of allusion to the literary and rock & roll life that follows the mess we're watching might have been helpful. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
DVD
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hardhitting Film Based on a True Life Story,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Basketball Diaries [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Director Scott Kalvert creates a moving and realistic recount of the true story of Jim Carroll, played superbly by Leonardo DiCaprio, a New York City teen who at the height of his high school basketball career, falls victim to drugs and violence in the rough streets. Look for the real-life Jim Carroll who makes a cameo appearance as a crack addict in the scene where young Jim sitting in a back alley listening to the addict preach about his "high" while boiling his fix. Fine supporting performances by the entire cast and a musical score including original songs performed by Jim Carroll's band. Especially memorable is the acid-rock message song: "These Are All the People Who've Died" which is a tribute to Jim's fallen friends throughout his life. The serious messages in this film SCREAM out at teens, but also are sombering to adults who realize the sometimes hopeless devastation that wracks a family during a drug crisis. Your heart breaks for Jim's mom and his mentor, an African American ex-druggie who cleaned up and wants nothing more than to help Jim out of his living hell before it consumes him.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best actor!,
By Mena Reid (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Basketball Diaries (DVD)
This movie is amazing, the talented Mr. Dicaprio really gave an outstanding performance
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gritty, realistic film with wonderful acting performances.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Basketball Diaries [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"The Basketball Diaries" is a gritty, uncompromising look at a basically good guy's decent into heroin hell. The cast, headed by Leonardo DiCaprio, is superb; the screenplay doesn't pull any punches. Realistic, shocking, eye-opening, the film gives DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg the chance to display their true talents and really ACT -- these fellows do a terrific job because it all looks so REAL. What a great film with an ending I guarantee you won't expect -- connoisseurs of fine films and DiCaprio fans should check it out -- this is a real movie with a real script and real acting, and the characters and storyline aren't larger than life. They're real as life, and that's not something you see on TV every day. END
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