Streaming Movie Portal

Movie: The Basketball Diaries (1995)

• Director: Scott Kalvert


• Release Date: 21 April 1995 (USA)


• Run Time: 102 min


• Country: USA


• Genre: Biography , Crime , Drama , Sport  


• MPAA: Rated R for graphic depiction of drug addiction with related strong violence,sexuality and language.

Tagline: The true story of the death of innocence and the birth of an artist  

Trivia: Many links to The Sopranos - Lorraine Bracco (Dr Melfi) plays Jim's mom. Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) plays the friend who dies of Leukemia. Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy) is the guy that gets spat on whilst on the ferry.
 

Goofs: Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, just after the by was beaten by the Father. They walked towards the door to leave dressed in their school uniforms and when they got to the other side of the door, they were are dressed in street clothes.
 

"Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin -- all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity. Written by Mark Fleetwood <mfleetwo@mail.coin.missouri.edu>"