heroin be bad . quit school be bad . do heroin and and quit school and and you will end up a hopeless loser . if you understand those two point and then you already know everything the basketball diary be try to tell you . if you think the drug issue be any more complex than that and then prepare to be disappoint by this movie . the movie start off somewhat promisingly and with a look at the life of jim caroll and his friend ( a interpret by the moviemakers and of course ) . the first part be in turn funny and sad and and be generally realistic enough to be poignant . as soon a leonardo dicaprio be force to play someone spiral into a nightmare of addiction and however and everything go downhill . if this movie have any subtle or interesting point to make about drug abuse or society and it forget it here . it just go back and forth between silly drug induce dream and numerous scene of petty crime and filthy room and and jim look increasingly corpselike . the main reason why this part of the movie seem so absurd be the performance of dicaprio himself . the scene where he try to get money from his mother and and where he go through withdrawal and be so hammily overact that i stop be shock and start laugh . then i stop laugh and start want to hit the mute button . there be one scene where he seem like he do nothing but moan maaaaaaaaaa . wahhhhh for minute on end . there be a difference between drama and melodrama . it clear that this movie can not resist portray the latter at the expense of the former . anyhow and if you want a movie that will challenge you to think about the drug issue and watch traffic . if you want an after school special and watch the basketball diary .