Following the untimely death of renowned author, musician, and poet, Jim Carroll in September of last year, journeyman director Scott Kalvart's well-intentioned but flawed adaptation of Carroll's celebrated memoir gets the Blu-ray treatment, but the unfortunate artist's cautionary tale is one that is far better when consumed straight from the page. An abridged account of Carroll's formative years growing up in New York in the `70's, starring a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio, Basketball Diaries chronicles the spirited Carroll's gradual descent into recreational drug use, the disappearance of his promising basketball career up his nose, and his eventual free fall into a nightmare world of full blown addiction.
Yet despite the presence of a compelling, pre-packaged narrative, music video helmer Kalvert struggles to wrestle Carroll's harrowing account and lyrical prose onto the screen in any form other than simple box-ticking. There's a tragic death of a close friend here, a little rebellion against a catholic upbringing there, with a liberal sprinkling of flawed authority figures who let Jim down instead of offering responsible guidance along the way. It's all been done before, and to much greater effect.
By Jim's side for most of the way are your bog-standard urban rag-taggers in the form of hot-headed Micky (Wahlberg), picked-on runt Pedro (Madio), and Neutron (McGraw), the one straight arrow who stays clean and serves to remind Jim of the promise he so cheaply squandered. Lorraine Bracco and Ernie Hudson both get a look in as the despairing mother and sage mentor figure, respectively, but end up little more than simple ciphers. Juliette Lewis gets about five lines as an addict turning tricks in the neighborhood, who for all intents and purposes might as well be named Foreshadow.
What's lacking is any real insight into Carroll's psyche, with Kalvert, who only directed one other film subsequently, stuck in an endlessly repeating loop whereby he feels he can only reveal character through circumstance, simply resorting to more; more despicable behavior, more desperate choices, more squalor. More saline solution on the end of Dicaprio's nose! Carroll's poetry does occasionally make an appearance in the form of a book that Kalvert has his star whip-out whenever he feels it's time to get deep, but the incoherent snapshots are less seminal genius than they are bad Myspace.
To be fair to DiCaprio, his performance is entirely captivating, but one that we're sadly never permitted to penetrate. The crucial aspect of Carroll's story - the reform from addict to artist - is almost entirely absent. what we have is addiction...and out, leaving us with a portrait of a man who, despite having stood with him through his highs and lows for the last hour and a half, we barely know.
Blu-ray special Features:
Interviews with the cast and director, and a separate interview and poetry reading from Jim Carroll.
"The Basketball Diaries" is on sale April 20, 2010 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Scott Kalvert. Written by Bryan Goluboff (Screenplay), Jim Carroll (Novel). Starring Bruno Kirby, Ernie Hudson, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Patrick McGraw, James Madio, Lorraine Bracco.
