The Basketball Diaries - 1995, Dir: Scott Kalvert.

   Prior to directing this adaptation of Jim Carroll's autobiographical book, Scott Kalvert had only directed two music documentaries and Mark Wahlberg's work-out video. Despite this distinct lack of experience, the result of Kalvert's feature film debut is seen as an important marker on the careers of two young actors of the time. Often seen as instrumental in boosting the early careers of both Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, The Basketball Diaries was fairly new territory for both the director and his young leading men.

   Carroll's story is one of a group of four young Catholic school boys, members of the school's gifted basketball team. We see the group's gradual descent into the vice-like grip of hard drug addiction on the streets of New York City. It is a story of that familiar, turbulent time the life of young men, with defiance against authority and teenage sexual angst the orders of the day. 

   The film commences with the boys losing a friend to leukemia, an event that seems to be the catalyst for what unfolds from then on. Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) takes the news the hardest and subsequently it is he that indulges in the hedonism to the greatest degree; actions that have a crushing effect on both his home life and school basketball career. Supporting DiCaprio's Jim are Mickey (Mark Wahlberg), Pedro (James Madio) and Neutron (Patrick McGaw). The group's tight cohesion quickly begins to loosen as the drugs and petty crime begins to dominate their lives. While McGaw's character steps back from the brink just in time, Mickey, Pedro and Jim's increasing addictions start to claw at the seams of their lives, with deadly consequences. 

   DiCaprio shines as the thoughtful young man who's passion for writing is fractured by the numbness of heroin. From the angsty scenes at home with his worried mother (Lorraine Bracco) to the raw agony of 'cold turkey', DiCaprio's range even at this early stage in his career is clear to see. Wahlberg's performance also stands out, as the brash, muscle-bound Mickey. Sensitive about his family, but desperate to retain a 'tough guy' facade, he falls just as deep as Jim into the seedy underworld. In the next two years, DiCaprio would go on to star in Romeo and Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997), catapulting him into the Hollywood stratusphere. Wahlberg would have his big push to true stardom in the post-millennium period, but his roles in this and 1997's Boogie Nights were a large part of his rise to cinematic fame. 

   Kalvert's direction leaves the viewer wondering why the Brooklyn native only went on to make one more film after this (Deuces Wild in 2002). Clearly influenced by his work on musical films, dream sequences (including one much analysed in the wake of the Columbine massacre) and more stylistically charged scenes punctuate the narrative throughout. These kinds of technique are easily overused, but Kalvert's artistic ventures contribute to the drug-addled mania embarked upon by the youths. 

   An angsty, urban tale of talent wasted, young lives embroiled in crime and the painful path to redemption. Scott Kalvert produces strong performances from his two young stars and adds an artistic slant to a narrative bereft of much but bleakness. While there are a variety of cases of character underdevelopment, and less than convincing performances in some supporting roles, The Basketball Diaries is a thoroughly watchable piece of 90s cinema.

Verdict: 6.5/10