Review of The Basketball Diaries (1995) by Sagar K — 04 Sep 2010

And the award for most depressing movie ever goes to...

The Basketball Diaries depicts the despair and horrors of poverty and addiction unflinchingly, but it also revels in all that misery and grime. I appreciate that it doesn't stylize or try to pretty-up anything, something similarly themed films (Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting) can be accused of. Still, those films feel alive and, even if their style lends a certain coolness to their subject matter, still leave you with no doubts about the horrors of addiction. The Basketball Diaries succeeds in horrifying you, but not enlightening you.