Why Stop Now? (2012)

Thanks for the memories!

People are voting emotionally.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner's Why Stop Now is an energetic comedy that could've been called its tagline, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Rehab," just for added effect. It concerns a piano prodigy who gets caught up with his mother's drug dealers while trying to take her to rehab so he can finally live a life free of this albatross.The prodigy is Eli Bloom and is played by Jesse Eisenberg, who couldn't be a better fit here. His mother is played by Melissa Leo, and equally great casting choice as well. The film begins with Eli getting drunk at a party the night before a big audition at a music conservatory before he goes up to sleep all of it off. The next morning he tries to admit his mother to rehab for drugs but she can't be accepted due to the lack of drugs in her system. The rehab employee encourages her to go get high and then come back so that her urine sample can come up dirty.This leads to Eli and his mom seeking out "Sprinkles" (Tracy Morgan) and Black (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), two helpless drug-dealers that will give them the fix they need. But because Eli's mom owes them money, they must fulfill a favor, all while Eli has a stern deadline and a long road trip ahead of him to the audition.Movies like this, while not usually emphasizing on dialog, tend to make me admire the ways directors and writers conduct eventful plots and briskly-paced scenes of raucousness. Dorling and Nyswaner deliver in this respect because they know that it's not the situations that are usually funny but it's the characters that are victim to them. They know we've likely seen Eisenberg, Leo, and Morgan in other movies, some of them more serious, so to throw them all together in a cacophony of chaos such as drug deals, misunderstanding, and so on makes this a very lighthearted, fun film to watch.Why Stop Now erects a film on the building blocks of comedy. Think about it; many comedies form as a result of characters doing something they do not want to do. If Eli had it his way, his mother would be in rehab, his little sister would be in a safer haven than she is now, and he'd be on his way his audition. Of course, there would be no excitement and, worse, we could get a depressing, inept road movie rather than the spirited screwball comedy we have here. Movies like this embrace something that will never cease to at least captivate me and that's the cheery sense of excitement and exhilaration in high-octane sequences of madness.Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, Tracy Morgan, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Directed by: Paul Dorling and Ron Nyswaner.

SPOILER: IT SUCKED.I wanted to stop watching this movie when the mother was driving and not paying attention to the road for what I guess was supposed to be comedy... but I really wanted to write a review so I kept on watching. Please do not let my sacrifice be in vein and - do NOT see this movie.The writers must have thought "What would a stupid person do in this situation? OK.. How can we make it worse?"The main character keeps telling his mother to "Shut up! - Just shut up!" throughout the entire movie. It made me hate him right from the start. The best actor in the movie was a sock puppet who's story must have been half edited out. Ever seen Jesse Eisenberg act? Neither have I. When he is in any movie, he plays "Jesse Eisenberg repeats lines from the script." He's exactly the same in every movie. He's like the Kevin Costner of neuritic Jews, only not as good an actor.If you do decide to see this movie, you may want to keep sharp objects like pencils out of reach because you may want to puncture your ear drums and stab your eyes out.I would rather get tied down and get Ludovicoed into watching the Fox News Channel for 10 hours than to have to watch this turd again.

Jesse Eisenberg's performance in "Why Stop Now" is a compromise between his roles in "The Social Network" and "30 Minutes or Less." In the former, he played a dramatized version of Mark Zuckerberg, a young man whose focus was so narrow and intense that Asperger's was certainly within the realm of possibility. In the latter, he played a panicked pizza delivery man forced into robbing a bank with a bomb strapped to his chest. His character in "Why Stop Now" is a piano prodigy who, in the course of one day, is faced with sending his mother to rehab, getting roped into being a drug dealer's personal translator, dealing with his little sister's habit of talking through a sock puppet, and mentally preparing himself for an audition that may get him into a prestigious music academy. He also realizes that he's in love with one of his classmates, and so he must work up to courage to admit it to her.On the surface, this sounds like the recipe for a zany slapstick comedy. There are indeed some very funny moments, many of them physical in nature, and yet never once does the humor overshadow the story's innate humanity. We see a great deal of it in Eisenberg's performance; his character, named Eli Bloom, is clearly under a lot of stress, and there are times when he loses his temper in sheer frustration, but he still manages to work through each situation. He does this even when he believes he isn't capable, and more importantly, when he has convinced himself that he has messed things up beyond repair. This isn't to suggest that he isn't flawed or in danger of falling into the same traps his mother fell into. His first major scene shows him getting drunk at a party he wasn't invited to; we eventually learn that this has been a weekend habit of his for quite some time.The story proper begins the morning Eli drives his mother, a drug addict named Penny (Melissa Leo), to rehab. Despite being a user, the urine sample she provides is clean; that, coupled with the fact that she doesn't have medical insurance, prevents her from being admitted, a turn of events Eli wasn't prepared for and is clearly not happy with. He's scheduled to give a piano recital in a matter of hours, and if all goes well, it may pave the way for his future in music. The only way Penny can commit herself, according to a discrete nurse, is for her to arrive under the influence. Panicked but determined to get his mother the help she so desperately needs, he agrees to meet with her dealer and get her a stash of cocaine. This is obviously something that happens more in the movies than in real life, but you've got to give writers/directors Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner credit for their understanding of irony.In due time, Eli meets the crippled, tough-talking Sprinkle (Tracy Morgan) and his partner in crime, Black (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), both of whom live with Sprinkle's elderly mother. When Eli inadvertently reveals that he's fluent in Spanish, an initially straightforward transaction becomes complicated; Sprinkle needs a translator in order to conduct business with his supplier, who either doesn't know a word of English or refuses to communicate in it. This is something of a plot hole, given the fact that Sprinkle appears to have thus far conducted business just fine without the aid of a translator. Or perhaps this Spanish-speaking supplier is new. The details are sketchy at best. Whatever the case, a brief confrontation at the supplier's restaurant results in Eli getting his hand injured, seriously jeopardizing his chances of doing well at the recital – assuming he can make it there on time.As the leads wait for the supplier to deliver the cocaine, other mishaps threaten to derail Eli. He will, for one thing, get loopy on Oxycontin. Not much later, he has to contend with his baby sister, Nicole (Emma Rayne Lyle), who's having behavior problems in school; not only is she too emotionally reliant on a sock puppet, she uses it as an excuse to say mean things to people. Later still, he must work to find some middle ground for Penny and her sister, Trish (Stephanie March) to stand on. Although they have chosen different life paths, the two are surprisingly similar as far as temperament and stubbornness are concerned. Whereas Penny is known for her lying, manipulation, and false promises, Trish is pretentious, judgmental, and self-righteous. And yet, we're made to see the decency in both women, especially in Penny, who may not have her act together but truly does want the best for her children.There's a subplot involving Eli's love interest, a young woman named Chloe (Sarah Ramos), who's part of a Revolutionary War reenactment society. Although the scenes between Eisenberg and Ramos are competently written and performed, they're by far the most unnecessary and manufactured of the film. I also found myself questioning the ending, the structure of which indicates a lack of consensus on the part of the directors. It starts off rather tidy, perhaps too much so, only to finish on an unsatisfying note of ambiguity. "Why Stop Now" is a flawed film, but its examination of the Eisenberg character is fascinating, and I found myself drawn on some level to most of the other characters, who aren't as clear cut as they appear to be. Even the trash-talking Sprinkle isn't beyond all hope. How would you feel if you had a future in running, only to injure your leg and spend the rest of your life walking with a cane?-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

Well, there are so many movies out there you can so easily do without. That however doesn't mean that some of them are still being some good and fun ones to watch, of which this movie is a perfect example! Most people will probably never see this movie, also mostly because this movie is being a low-key and independent production. But really, that doesn't mean that this movie isn't worth checking out. It's nothing to run out for but I see this as a perfect movie to watch on a rainy afternoon or as a way to kill some time with. It's well made, occasionally funny but above all things it's being a very light movie to watch, making this movie easy to digest and simply pleasant to watch, despite of some of its main dramatic themes.That's probably the reason why I enjoyed watching this movie; it never gets an heavy or too serious one. It manages to find a pleasant balance between its drama and comedy elements, by mostly inserting comedic ingredients and oddball characters.The setup of the movie is very simple, when things slowly are spiraling down for a young piano student, played by Jesse Eisenberg. He gets in more and more trouble with his family when simply trying to take his mother to a rehab clinic. It's fun to watch the situations he gets in, as he meets more and more people along his way.It's really a movie that is mostly being carried by its characters and the actors who are portraying them. It might seem like an odd choice for Oscar nominated and winning actors such as Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo to be in this little film but I can definitely see why they wanted to be in it. It's simply being a true actor's movie, in which they are truly able to shine, without having the pressure of a big budget and high expectations and Hollywood producers constantly breathing down their necks.I'm only taking off a point on its rating because of its sudden ending. Things didn't really felt wrapped up, at least not to me it didn't. The ending pretty much came out of the blue and I wish they did something more with it.Not a must-see in any way but it's simply a movie to have some good time with!6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/