The Basketball Diaries

The Basketball Diaries is a 1995 American biographical crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and based on an autobiographical novel by the same name written by Jim Carroll. It tells the story of Carroll's teenage years as a promising high school basketball player and writer who develops an addiction to heroin. 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. The Basketball Diaries premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 1995. The film was widely released in theaters on April 21, 1995, to mixed reviews and grossed $2.4 million at the box office. Plot Teenager Jim Carroll is a drug-addicted high school basketball player who regularly gets into mischief with his friends Pedro, Mickey, and Neutron on the streets of New York City and at school. Outside of basketball, Jim shows an artistic interest in writing; keeping his work in his journal while expressing his thoughts and creating poetry. Jim's best friend, Bobby, is dying of leukemia. Jim frequently visits him in the hospital. Later, after a trip to a strip show cut short by an annoyed Bobby, he dies, and Jim and his friends attend his funeral days later. Following the funeral, Jim and his friends go to the basketball court and reminisce about Bobby's life. Depressed over Bobby's death, Jim begins to use heroin.