Roger Ebert gave two stars out of four , concluding , " 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 ca n't tell if this is supposed to be genuine testimony or a performance . That 's the problem with the whole movie . " After the 1997 Heath High School shooting , activist Jack Thompson brought this film into a $ 33 million lawsuit in 1999 claiming that the film 's plot ( along with two internet pornography sites , several computer game companies , and makers and distributors of the 1994 film '' Natural Born Killers '' ) caused 14-year-old Michael Carneal to shoot members of a prayer group . The case was dismissed in 2001
Heath High School shooting
Heath High School shooting
The Basketball Diaries (film)