I like the casting. DiCaprio is brilliant, and Mark Wahlberg as well. Juliette Lewis is perfect, as well as Ernie Hudson. Bruno Kirby is terrific as the sexually deviant (child molester) basketball coach.
On the downside, the screenplay is far from what Jim Carroll wrote. As a reformed hard core opiate addict myself, I truly know exactly what Carroll felt. For me, the best scene is when Jim (DiCaprio) is dope-sick outside his mother's door; what he immediately realizes is his former home. The worst? The first time he shoots heroin. Except for the "warm feeling" (an oral description), it so much more than what is shown on the screen.
For me, especially very strong pharmaceutical opiates (and heroin), were like a warm blanket settling all over me. Plus having sex, shooting a machine gun, and screaming through all the gears to red line in a Ferrari; the mid-engine roaring right behind your head: all at the same time! That is what it feels like; the first few times. Eventually it gets worse; worse than anyone can possibly imagine; who has not lived (or died) through withdrawals, as I have.
Jim Carroll, who wrote the autobiography this film is based upon, got clean and became very famous as a writer (for a while); he is cast in the film, too. Andy Warhol took him under his wing, which is what helped his career; enormously. Unfortunately, Carroll died at age 60. All things considered, not bad. I am almost 65, and should have died over 35 years ago. I am grateful.
On the downside, the screenplay is far from what Jim Carroll wrote. As a reformed hard core opiate addict myself, I truly know exactly what Carroll felt. For me, the best scene is when Jim (DiCaprio) is dope-sick outside his mother's door; what he immediately realizes is his former home. The worst? The first time he shoots heroin. Except for the "warm feeling" (an oral description), it so much more than what is shown on the screen.
For me, especially very strong pharmaceutical opiates (and heroin), were like a warm blanket settling all over me. Plus having sex, shooting a machine gun, and screaming through all the gears to red line in a Ferrari; the mid-engine roaring right behind your head: all at the same time! That is what it feels like; the first few times. Eventually it gets worse; worse than anyone can possibly imagine; who has not lived (or died) through withdrawals, as I have.
Jim Carroll, who wrote the autobiography this film is based upon, got clean and became very famous as a writer (for a while); he is cast in the film, too. Andy Warhol took him under his wing, which is what helped his career; enormously. Unfortunately, Carroll died at age 60. All things considered, not bad. I am almost 65, and should have died over 35 years ago. I am grateful.