The Basketball Diaries

The Basketball Diaries (1995)

  • 46% of critics liked it
    (39 reviews)

  • 75% of users liked it
    (54,088 ratings)

Very loosely based on the memoir of the same name, The Basketball Diaries transposes the late '60s adolescence of writer/artist Jim Carroll to some unspecified time period at least 15 years later, further confusing the timeframe with three decades of rock music, some by Carroll himself. Jim… More

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R,
Directed By
Written By
Brian Goluboff
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Apr 21, 1995 Wide
PolyGram Video

Critic Reviews

  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

    For those few soul-freezing moments, you get a glimpse of the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be.

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    Significantly, the movie keeps the hero's reformation offscreen as well as unexplained; it's more interested in shock effects than in candor or elucidation.

  • , Time Out

    The angel-faced DiCaprio is a gifted actor, but he lacks the authority and physical presence to keep us with him.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    The star shines, but the movie is hard to watch.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    You leave The Basketball Diaries believing that Leonardo DiCaprio can do anything.

Read all 17 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • familiar s


    Used to despise Caprio initially, but now he's growing on me. Probably I was not qualified to see how talented an actor is. But I guess I'm progressing with time, at least in that direction. Or maybe it's vice versa. [Hell, whenever I comment, for most of the times,… More

  • Coxxie M


    "Man, who da hell axed you to suck dat dick!?"

  • J P


    Leo makes this movie awesome. His acting skills are amazing in this. The film didn't really show Jim's spiral into addiction. It was kind of just like one minute he's clean, then the next he's a full fledged druggie. The plot was supposed to be based on a true… More

  • Tim S


    Leo's drug-addled turn in this early film was proof he was destined for greater things.

  • Steven C


    "The Basketball Diaries" is an effective film about drug addiction but it's practically undone by incoherent editing and pacing and Mark Whalberg's embarrassing performance. What makes the film worthwhile though is the stunning turn from Leonardo DiCaprio. It is… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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