The Basketball Diaries . Tucson Weekly . 06-29-95

The Basketball Diaries

DIRECTED BY: Scott Kalvert

REVIEWED: 06-29-95

This autobiographical retelling of Jim Carroll's teenage slip into heroin-addicted oblivion during the mid-'60s invests too much effort in gritty realism and not enough into rounding its character or forming a narrative. We basically see the addict fail to redeem himself over and over, until one day, miraculously, he does. As directed by Scott Kalvert, a verteran of MTV videos, the movie is a stylish late-night lark with all the insight of a one-note after school special. Tough, naked performances by Leonard DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco and Ernie Hudson only accentuate the film's shortcomings.

--Zachary Woodruff

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The Basketball Diaries

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