46
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe tale related here isn't all that original, but the honest presentation lends impact to a wrenching scenario.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter Travers[Kalvert] best serves the movie by simply focusing on DiCaprio, who communicates the spirit and blunt truth of the diaries even when the movie keeps trying to soften the blow.
- Kalvert and Goluboff overcome predictability by developing the film's characters and atmosphere instead. The result is a turbocharged ode to the lithe bodies and swaggering souls of boys who believe they're invincible - a glorious love song of youthful self-destructiveness.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's an energetic, watchable mess.
- 60EmpireEmpireWithout rising star DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg this would have been considerably more turgid and unappealing. But their charm allows sympathy and involvement with the characters, despite their efforts towards self-destruction.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumA sensationalist grunge festival spiked with dollops of poetry on the sound track.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie is unconvincing. At the end, Jim is seen going in through a "stage door," and then we hear him telling the story of his descent and recovery. We can't tell if this is supposed to be genuine testimony or a performance. That's the problem with the whole movie.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe results are more sleazy than insightful.
- 20Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThe Basketball Diaries is a stepped-on product that never scores.
- 20Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe Basketball Diaries is a lose-lose proposition. Although it masquerades as a cautionary tale about the horrors of heroin, this epic of teen-age * Angst is more accurately seen as a reverential wallow in the gutter of self-absorption.