Whoah. The Basketball Diaries” is a tough, ugly movie with some ugly s**t. And it makes you think even more about life and death when you learn it’s a true story.
To be honest, it’s 80% drugs and pains and some life lessons and 20% basketball. So it’s not that much of basketball movie.
One little good thing you can get that is basketball related is that confidence can help you out a lot when playing ball. But man, this movie is about 4 friends who like to do nasty stuff.
Having fun, getting high, doing crazy things, sniffing, fighting, lying, not really caring and ending up using heroin which resulted into a murder and robbery.
It’s an amazing, Oscar-like performance by DiCaprio. Brilliant acting, really. He plays this character Jim who likes to write. Just write about his s**tty, loveless life.
Through time he realizes that he can get even more philosophical by taking drugs and destroying his life. His mother gave him this advice that was so deep and though provoking. She said…
“Idle time is the devil’s plaything”.
It’s a sad thing. This movie is a good example of all the “temptations” and bad stuff people have to go through in those bad neighbourhoods. Scary to think so many players throughout history had to go through that.
In this true story, one of the four kids who decided to stay good, keep it real and play ball was needless to say, the smartest.