Le verità sospese

This was a pretty good turn for Franco, one of his best attempts at drama in indi cinema.

Franco is the protagonist, a writer who wrote a great book about his broken childhood, and the relationship with his abusive father, but it comes to life that what he's passing off as truth may not be all that, and he tries to redeem his career with a new book about a True Crime, evolving a father (played by Christian Slater, who I have not scene in forever) whose on trail for the murder of his wife.

It's an Intriguing story about how sometimes we remember things differently than they actually happen. James Franco played this role well. It was not a matter of weather he was right or wrong, but just a matter of how he saw things that was not entirely accurate.

Ed Harris and Franco had some really good scenes together as well. Harris played the abusive father who, like his son, remembers events differently. The father son connection felt very realistic.

This is not the first time Franco has done a film on Child abuse (also not the fist time Amber Heard played an ex-punk rock bases with a few issues, she also did it in the recent but horrible film One More Time). Franco also tackled the trouble youth Topic in the film Yosemite, but that movie was a little more serious while this one is definitely better done.

I can recommend.

Writer/director Pamela Romanowsky's adaptation of "The Adderall Diaries" based on Stephen Elliott's memoir has so many great ideas. It's a blend of different genres that calls back to many different films from the past however, it's unfocused execution and narrative ultimately leaves you bewildered rather than intrigued.

Starring Academy Award nominee James Franco as Stephen Elliott, an author whose world is turned upside down when his estranged father (played by Ed Harris) accuses him in public of fabricating his book which tells the story of his life. With a new relationship, drug relapse, and focusing on a very public murder trial, will Stephen be able to survive everything that life is throwing at him?

As previously mentioned, there's A LOT going on in the story. We're getting elements of "Shattered Glass" then "Blue Valentine" then "The Basketball Diaries." Romanowsky isn't confident about what she wants her film to be. Does she want it to be a film about family relationships or dissection of the mind of an addict? Does she want to explore the ramifications of sex through violence or is she trying to make a statement about the perception of our lives within ourselves? She's saying so many things that it all ends up on blurred lines and in a haze. I will say that her abilities is a filmmaker is nothing to scoff at. She creates genuine moments and settles into her better written scenes with courage and ferocity. I'd still be very intrigued to see her next venture.

James Franco's resume with independent cinema has left much to be desired. His performances are often self-indulgent or misguided by his own direction or any other filmmaker he's working with. His turn in "The Adderall Diaries" is one of his more impressive works that he's constructed as of late. Though his motivations and actions aren't always made abundantly clear, Franco sheds some of his barriers to allow some connection with his audience.

You can't get much better than Ed Harris in terms of an actor that shines in just about anything he does, no matter how the film he inhabits turns out. As Neil, Stephen's father, Harris elevates the thin material and focuses on the emotion of a father's regret with near precision. I'm still anxiously awaiting his Oscar-winning role. This doesn't quite make the cut.

Other aspects of the film include the beautiful Amber Heard, the multi-talented Cynthia Nixon, the oddly involved Christian Slater, and the scene-stealing abilities of Jim Parrack (Hoyt from "True Blood").

Overall "The Adderall Diaries" is a misguided attempt by a director who has a keen eye for some things but lacks in others. Romanowsky's guidance on her actors are some of the film's biggest highlights but ultimately just falls short in too many spots. The opening sequence was quite good and there was a scene in which I nearly cried. Some may find some qualities to take home with them, others will simply leave it at the door.

Books on fiction and even more so autobiographical memoirs are always edited, self edited if you prefer. Even the most brutally frank of memoirs there is always a part so painful we don't want to tell the world and we hope that no one else is keeping track to tell it differently. That's what happens to James Franco on another of his quirky projects playing a writer who does his Adderall like peppermint candy.

Franco is covering the trial of wife killer Christian Slater and as the testimony rolls he sees some of his own life especially in his relationship with his estranged father Ed Harris who sees the same incidents and others he prefers to remember a bit differently. Franco and Harris have some great scenes together they are the heart of the film.

Editing our memories is the phenomenon this film chose to explore. If not the best of explanations it's a valiant attempt.

After hearing about (but not reading) the book I was a little excited for this film. Terrible let down. There is no real plot or even a narrative and I can't for the life of me understand why this gets placed under the Thriller genre. It is little more than a plodding collection of vignettes strung together with an inordinate number of slow-motion flashbacks. Seriously if just the flashbacks and montages were shown in realtime it would cut the runtime of this movie by half. Want to convey a memory of a happy family? Slow motion flashback of them kicking a ball in the yard. Angry family? Slow motion flashback of them yelling and punching. Repeat this over and over to fill the space where plot and character development would go.

The "trial" component feels forced as an unnecessary element (maybe to convince us it's a thriller?). There isn't one relationship in this movie we ever actually care about and, as if to add insult to injury, the star seems to magically reconcile a lifetime of bad choices in the last ten minutes! Too bad this was a really bad vehicle for some otherwise good talent.

This movie is journey about coming to terms with who you are and how you became that person.

The enigmatic Franco plays a deeply troubled writer who is trying to come to terms with his traumatic past and the heartbreakingly tumultuous relationship he had with his father. Along the way, he meets the beautiful Amber Heard. This is why I did not give the movie more stars. If it was the writers intent to portray her as damaged as he was, it was an epic fail. She came across as strong and self-assured -almost cocky at times - not what you would expect from someone reeling from childhood trauma. It was no fault of Heard's - her character was just badly written. Ed Harris rocks the screen, as usual, as the domineering father who haunts his dreams and creates the clouds of his past that he can't see through.

The mind is amazing - we can do all sorts of things to protect ourselves. The ability to alter our memories is only one tool of many. This one is worth your time.