Leonardo dicaprio, bruno kirby, lorraine bracco, mark. The basketball diaries i heard the book was better. Carroll followed up this memoir with a sequel of sorts called the downtown diaries which follows his relocation to california and his efforts to end his heroin addiction. The book was made into a film of the same name in 1995 starring leonardo dicaprio as jim carroll and mark wahlberg as mickey. Jim carrolls cult book the basketball diaries, published in 1978, describes in grungy detail how the author passed in a few short months from being a catholic high school basketball star to being a strungout heroin addict who turned tricks for drugs. Bluster is the principal at the catholic private school carroll attends on scholarship.
The basketball diaries is a 1978 memoir written by author and musician jim carroll. The classic about growing up hip on new yorks mean streets. In the movie, the basketball diaries, a pretitanic leonardo dicaprio plays the role of a freespirited high schooler named jim carroll who gets pulled in by the lure of addiction. A chronicle of carolls coming of age, from 12 to 15, prowling new york city, playing basketball, hustling, stealing. The next generation this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title the basketball diaries.
Although it masquerades as a cautionary tale about the horrors of heroin, this epic of teenage angst is more accurately seen as a. The basketball diaries has an excellent cast that makes up for it plot which lack. The 1995 film the basketball diaries is set in the slums of manhattan where a high school basketball player, jim carroll dicaprio, and his friends ultimately take a sharp nosedive into the tragic world of drug addiction. If it had one fault, it was under using lorraine bracco and michael imporlianoboth appeared in goodfellas and the sopranos. Many heavy factors in his life including a friend dying of leukemia, an invasive coach, and a growing unhealthy appetite for heroine. Basketball diaries the pretitanic leonardo dicaprio stars as jim carroll, the poet and musician who spent much of his adolescence addicted to heroin and shooting hoops with. And while im sure this book attracts adherents because its real or whatever i cant say the book held much of my interest. His life centers around the basketball, and his dream is being a basketball star. The basketball diaries by jim carroll study guide consists of approx. The urban classic comingofage story about sex, drugs, and basketball. Scott kalverts the basketball diaries, starring leonardodicaprio, opened friday, april 21, 1995, in selected cities. Basketball diaries great book, i met the author, jim carrollplayed by leo.
Carroll is a member of an apparently unbeatable high school basketball squad. Like many such stories, it lingers lovingly over the horrors, and ends with unseemly haste after happiness is regained. It feels so good, you start doing it on tuesdays then thursdays then its got you. Trust me the basketball diaries is the one of the most underrated films ive ever seen, but on rare occasions thats what makes a film brilliant this is one of those rare occasions. There are more scenes of drug use and teen violence in this movie than i have almost seen in any other place. The basketball diaries was another opportunity for dicaprio to prove he could take on anything thrown at him, and his performance is the reason.
The basketball diaries 1978 is the memoir of jim carroll, who was both a famous poet and punk rocker. The heath high school shooting occurred at heath high school in west paducah, kentucky, united states, on december 1, 1997. The basketball diaries is the true story of jim carroll, teenager growing up in new york. Fourteenyearold michael carneal opened fire on a group of praying students, killing three and injuring five more. The basketball diaries reminded me of an after school special look it up, kiddies gone very, very wrong. The book, which is generally referred to by its main title alone, had started appearing in excerpt form throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s in various literary publications. The film is an adaptation of poet and memoirist jim carrolls leonardo. Its clear that the film deviates from the book in order to fit into a. The basketball diaries book summary and study guide. Based on the true story of famed street poet jim carroll and his harsh encounters with sex, drugs and violence, the basketball diaries stars leonardo dicaprio in a visual journal depicting the lives of four catholic school boys, jim, mickey, pedro, and neutron, who go from being high school basketball stars to teenage junkies on the streets of new york city. Teenager jim carroll is a high school basketball player who regularly gets into mischief with his friends pedro, mickey and.
The book was better is a phrase heard often in conversations about book tofilm adaptations. The basketball diaries first, its a saturday night thing when you feel cool like a gangster or a rockstar just something to kill the boredom, you know. Aided by a strong supporting cast, including mark wahlberg as his closest junkie pal mickey and lorraine bracco as his mother, dicaprio is able to create empathy for a character that seems to lose all sense of morality very early. Mickey mouse is the most focusedon character in his franchise, and there are more shorts about him than anyone else. Very loosely based on the memoir of the same name, the basketball diaries. Ill tell ya what, if our school was this nice id go more than once a week. The basketball diaries was almost made by columbia pictures in the late 1980s. Dicaprios performance is his among his best, pulling no punches while conveying the relentless thirst of a junkie. Features a rather starstudded cast, including early roles for leonardo dicaprio as jim carroll, mark wahlberg as mickey, juliette lewis as diane moody, james madio as pedro, and michael imperioli from the sopranos as bobby. The publication of jim carrolls diary, entitled the basketball diaries. This study guide consists of approximately 85 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the basketball diaries.
The film centers around jim carroll dicaprio, a promising teenage basketball player who develops an addiction to heroin with his misguided friends. The main character, jimmy carroll dicaprio was a promising basketball player and through his constant diary writings he showed us he was an deep thinker. Jim carrolls 1978 memoir the basketball diaries wouldnt seem like the ideal hollywood picture. The basketball diaries by jim carroll, paperback barnes. Carrolls work includes several collections of poetry as well as a asecond memoir, forces entries. It is a stomachwrenching glimpse into the lives of those addicted to heroin and other drugs. Basketball diaries is an earnest, botched effort to do justice to carrolls book.
Soon, the mean streets of new york city have replaced the basketball court as his main destination. As the leader of the jim carroll band he released three albums as well as several spoken word recordings. Carroll describes growing up in new york city and the challenges he faces trying to stay out of trouble. Man, and ended up reading for the part of mickey a total of six times.
The basketball diaries is a 1995 american drama film directed by scott kalvert, starring leonardo dicaprio, lorraine bracco, james madic, and mark wahlberg from the nonfiction work of the same name. After this jim and his friends pedro james madio, mickey mark wahlberg, and. Distributed by new line cinema, the basketball diaries stars leonardo dicaprio as carroll, along with bruno kirby, lorraine bracco, ernie hudson, patrick mcgaw, james madio, michael imperioli, and mark wahlberg in supporting roles. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the basketball diaries by jim carroll. Final shot jim carroll, here in the late 70s, soared to stardom young, with his book the basketball diaries and his punk band. The first scene of the movie is after being beaten for some offense or another at his. The basketball diaries 2015 remake fanon wiki fandom. The basketball diaries intense movie where leonardo. Jim carroll grew up to become a renowned poet and punk rocker. Jims only chance to escape addiction may be reggie ernie hudson, a. Jim carrolls bestselling memoir the basketball diaries was first released in 1978 and adapted as a film in 1995.
The film is an adaptation of poet and memoirist jim carrolls juvenile diaries chronicling his kaleidoscopic freefall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. The film is supposedly an adaptation of jim carrolls autobiographical book the basketball diaries, which records his experiences as a teenager in early1960s new york city. Problems with scott kalverts film basketball diaries background. The basketball diaries synopsis favorite theater button. Jim and his friends scrounge, steal and prostitute themselves to score drugs. Books similar to the basketball diaries the basketball diaries. The basketball diaries is a 1995 american coming of age crime drama film directed.
The acting is absolutely superb especially dicaprio who people only seemed to acknowledge after playing a preety boy character jack in the titanic. Miles teller mickey moises arias pedro mateo arias neutron brendan gleeson father mcnulty frankie muniz iggy bruno mars swifty tom hanks kenny quinn lahiffjenkins frankie pinewater danielle panabaker diane moody gary busey tommy joe pesci manny stefanie scott winkle alexandra deberry blinkle steve carell bobby. The basketball diaries is a story of the harsh realities of drug addiction and the ease in which occasional drug use turns into a daily must. View notes term paper from hon 299 at st bonaventure university. Age twelve to fifteen 1978, had been eagerly awaited. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Jul 31, 2015 the basketball diaries intense movie where leonardo dicaprio gets all drugged up. Well, for starters, mickey is a madeup character, and neutron and pedro are nowhere in sight in the diaryit is jim, johnny, and danny who make the leap and. In the midst of the cold war, war in vietnam, race riots in new york city, and a turning point in american culture between leave it to beaver and woodstock, jim carroll began writing. The basketball diaries full movie video dailymotion. But it was actually kids who were buying the book, and. Term paper 1 joe cimmino drug abuse in the basketball. The following is a list of shorts that mickey plays a significant role in.
114 706 316 1053 35 1228 424 1155 1068 215 22 479 961 114 829 433 566 1203 465 428 1604 1401 974 1007 319 982 462 175 278 1295 836 1470 1446 1088 300 1334 528 500 734 360 1117 1205 1410 579 890 1057