Review of The Basketball Diaries (1995) by Rory D — 01 Apr 2010

This movie was so poorly assembled I wanted to return it to the sender. The plot felt weak, the dialogue clumsy, and the "creative expression" bordered on being laughable. The relationship between Jim and his mother never solidified, nor does Jim's personality really develop beyond tough city kid with a sensitive side. In the end, the entire expenditure kind of just felt like an excuse to make young DiCaprio look adorably sulky and vulnerable.

And does the film succeed on that level? Well, it depends on which half of the movie your watching. For the first half Jim has that devil-may-care way about him. In the second half, he degenerates into perhaps one of the most pathetic characters (drug addict or otherwise) to ever the screen. Which, really, is exactly how he should come across as. Though it wasn't a perfect performance (occasionally I'd find myself wishing he would reel it in a bit), it's a very brave and committed one, making the viewer ultimately give a crap about what happens to him in the end. Indeed, it's a performance that is the film's ultimate quasi-salvation.

Despite the number of cliches in "Diaries", there were some aspects to the film that I truly liked. The chemistry of Jim and his friends actually felt genuine. The build up in the scene of Jim begging his mother for money from behind the apartment door was directed with just enough tension, DiCaprio at his best in the film. The use of neighbor Reggie- first as a basketball opponent, later a sort of angel of mercy to the barely-standing Jim- was a good writing choice (although, he did get stuck with some lines I myself would have tried to get out of saying- "You were lyin' in the snow like a creamsicle!"). Finally, that the mother would simply let him leave the house (although she prayed for him every night afterward), because she didn't know how to handle his addiction, felt believable.

But in the end, there is a lack of an authentic feel to Basketball Diaries, which prevents it from being more than mediocre in my book. It may have benefited from dropping the whole "troubled artist in the making" device and instead portrayed Jim with a more Rorschach-y feel, eluding to the fact that his poetry is more than a little purple.

This is not a BAD watch, but, really, only if you're interested in some of DiCaprio's early stuff. And there's nothing else to do at the end of your night. And you've already seen "This Boy's Life", a far superior film.