The Basketball Diaries
The film adaptation of Jim Carroll, street-tough Jim Carroll’s story about how he fell into the dark world of addiction. Jim Carroll is a high school basketball player and his life revolves around basketball. The court serves as a metaphor for all of the things he sees. Young Jim begins to lose his dream of being a professional basketball player. His best friend is now dying from leukemia. Swifty, the coach, takes unacceptable liberties with the team’s boys. Teenage sexual angst and a strong appetite for heroin are all factors that threaten Jim. His mother becomes increasingly concerned for him and soon the streets of New York provide sanctuary. His only way out of his reality is heroin, which he steals from people and then robs them. He can only begin his long road back to normality with Reggie’s help, an old friend from the neighborhood who Jim occasionally plays a few games with. Mark Fleetwood
Director: Scott Kalvert
Actors: Ernie Hudson, James Madio, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Imperioli
Country: United States
