Why Stop Now?

"Why Stop Now" asks the question how far would you go to get into rehab? Eli (Jesse Eisenberg) is a smart kid, a piano prodigy, and is desperate to get his mother into rehab. His mother (Melissa Leo) is an annoying, high-strung coke-addict who has to go to rehab now or else Eli will never get to live his own life. The various plot descriptions available all get the rehab misunderstanding wrong, but it doesn't matter, it's ridiculous either way.

Presumably a comedy, the movie goes to great lengths to create a story full of comedic mishaps. Most of them, especially the rehab misunderstanding, aren't funny enough and belong in a worse movie. Because the thing is this movie could be more aptly described as a bittersweet drama-comedy and the travails that Eli has to go through are actually pretty touching.

Jesse Eisenberg is a really good actor. Prior to "The Social Network" (2010), I didn't really believe he was good (probably because of unfair superficial assumptions placed on him), but he may very well have mastered the drama-comedy balance. The script goes to extremes in manufacturing obstacles and misplaced hilarity. Melissa Leo takes on those extremes with her high-pitched self-righteous prattle and we wish she was locked in rehab at the very beginning. Tracy Morgan, surprisingly, plays his role more subdued than he has probably ever been before and the result is a drug dealer that doesn't produce any laughs.

Eisenberg is able to make a couple of scenes very funny. In one, he acts as a Spanish translator for one drug dealer to another and finds an amusing balance between his book smarts and street smarts. In a later scene, he explains the difference between a pain in the ass and a pretentious pain in the ass to two high-strung screaming sisters. I'm thankful when he raises his voice to get them to shut-up.

The mostly classical music score provides an interesting juxtaposition to the drug-fuelled comedy, but I'm not sure who "Why Stop Now" is supposed to appeal to. It doesn't have the same energy and comedy that popular releases "Horrible Bosses" and "21 Jump Street" have. But the bittersweet journey and the accomplishments by one actor in particular makes this a somewhat enjoyable and, thankfully, short ride.

Eli Bloom (Jesse Eisenberg) is a piano protégé being dragged into an audition to a fancy music school. Instead, his main concern is trying to push his mother Penny Bloom (Melissa Leo) into drug rehab. She constantly refuses to go while trying to score as they drive around with drug dealer Sprinkles (Tracy Morgan).

Tracy Morgan is completely miscasted. I keep thinking this is a joke but he's never funny. In fact, the whole movie is like that. Jesse and Melissa play very annoying characters. They almost never do things that they're suppose to do. It's so frustrating that any joke never comes off properly. This was suppose to be wacky especially with the revolutionary war re-enactors but I never laughed once. At the core of this, basically how are we supposed to laugh at people who are so self-defeating.

A college student en route to an important piano audition, has to score drugs for his mother so she can be admitted at the drug rehabilitation center with tainted urine. What a premise!!! I didn't know what to expect when I first saw this drama / comedy / action film. But, "Why stop Now" is an entertaining unpredictable fast paced film with a stellar cast from start to finish. Talk about a dysfunctional family including a younger sister who insists on talking through a sock named "Julio." These quirky characters are well written and at times surprising. The story follows Eli bloom in the span of 24 hours and excitement ensues with the countdown for his important piano audition. Eli's ability to speak Spanish, motivates drug dealers to kidnap him to negotiate with their source resulting in several hilarious scenes. Actor Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo, as his troubled but big hearted mom turn in wonderful performances. Tracy Morgan is hilarious as the drug dealer. The cast of characters show multi layers to their personalities, and the audience is taken on a wild but satisfying ride.

After viewing this I was shocked at the current rating of just 3.7/10. I'm sure it will start to climb up from that over time. I was never a fan of Jesse Eisenberg but he did a decent job with this. I admit the script could have been better and a few scenes could have used a re-shoot, but in the end the project deserves a decent review so I'm giving it one.

The story involves a struggling drug addicted mother Penny portrayed by Melissa Leo, her young daughter Nicole and her college age son Eli(Eisenberg). It begins with Eli beginning what proved to be a very ruff day for him, his plan being to drop off mom at rehab and head to a piano audition for a prestigious music school. Simple enough, but when mom finds out the rehab won't accept her because of a clean urine, her & Eli are sent off on a mission for drugs to get her a positive drug screen to get her accepted. Again the simple becomes complicated as her drug supplier Sprinkles played by Tracy Morgan is all out & Eli & his mom are sent out on a mission with Sprinkles & his brother Black to secure his resupply.

I guess it's fair to say this was a feel good movie of sorts. Don't expect to be ROTFLOL, although it does have it's funny moments. Every character involved has their flaws but overall they are decent people. Please don't dismiss this as junk from the rating, yes I doubt the film will be winning any awards & there certainly wasn't any Oscar worthy performances but it does have redeeming qualities. I was glad I watched it(and I'm normally not a fan of Eisenburg or Morgan)so I recommend giving it a shot. It is at least worthy of a 7/10

'WHY STOP NOW': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo and Tracy Morgan star in this comedy-drama film about family love and addiction. It was written and directed by freshman feature filmmakers Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner and is adapted from their 2008 short film 'PREDISPOSED' (which also featured Melissa Leo in the same role). It tells the story of a piano prodigy trying to get his drug dependant mother the help she needs and move on with his life. He ends up at odds with her former drug dealer who he also ends up helping. The film is well written and acted and is a surprisingly good time (despite it's lack of promotion).

Eisenberg plays Eli Bloom, a very talented piano prodigy who works as a supermarket clerk and lives with his drug addicted mother, Penny (Leo), and kid sister Nicole (Emma Rayne Lyle). Eli has been helping his mom out with Nicole and not pursued his own ambitions so when an audition to get into a well respected music conservatory comes up he jumps at the opportunity to take it and move on with his life. First he wants to get his mother the help she needs though and schedules her an appointment at a local rehab for drug abuse. Eli has a weekend drinking problem himself (which is something I can relate to) and gets trashed the night before his audition, embarrassing himself in front of the girl he likes (Sarah Ramos). His mother is rejected from the rehab center as well due to the fact that she pisses clean and has no insurance. A nurse (Jayce Bartok) informs her if she gets high and pisses dirty he can admit her so Eli and Penny go to Penny's drug dealer 'Sprinkles' (Morgan) for drugs and Eli ends up helping him translate with his supplier (Paul Calderon) in order to get the drugs they need.

The film had a limited theatrical run last August before being dumped on video with little to no publicity. Having seen the film now I have a hard time understanding why. I was expecting a poorly executed dumb comedy but instead found it extremely enjoyable. Eisenberg is one of my favorite actors and he doesn't disappoint here. He's relatable, funny and gives the film the right amount of heart that it needs. Melissa Leo is always good as well and makes a likable yet flawed mother once again here. I'm not a fan of Tracy Morgan at all and was expecting him to ruin this film but he's likable as well. In the right role, when he's not overacting, he's actually pretty good and he's funny and likable here for a change. For me the movie was nicely directed and just hit all the right notes. I probably enjoyed it more because I had such low expectations but it is a good film.

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