Why Stop Now?

Why Stop Now?_720p(480P)

source: Why Stop Now?

Review: For some unknown reason, I actually enjoyed this movie. The storyline shocked me because it just goes from one crazy situation to the next. The director cleverly mixed it up with humour and drama which makes the movie entertaining and interesting at the same time. Every single character has there own personal issues to deal with. The main character is a piano genius but he has to battle with obstacles that are put in his way before he has a clear mind to go through an audition. With drug dealing, love, troubled sister and stuck up auntie, there is enough material to keep you going through the short hour and twenty minutes. Enjoyable! Round-Up: It's good to watch a movie were Tracy Morgan isn't being an annoying idiot. He was actually good in this movie, as the drug dealer, and his sidekick was a great choice by the director. Eisenberg usually plays the same type of roles in all his movies, but I thought that he was also good in this movie. You can clearly see that he is actually playing the piano for real which shows that he has a real talent to fall back on. His mother was another character that played her part well as a drug addict. In all, all of the cast put in great performances in this low budget movie that should have got more recognition. I recommend this movie to people who are into there funny dramas about a mother and son struggling with personal issues. 6/10

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.

This movie is so much like my life that I couldn't watch it with a detached manner. Eli Bloom is an outstanding high school prodigy that masters both Spanish and playing piano. He has to take care of his drug addict mother and sister that has anti-social tendencies, and tries to be admitted to a piano school at the same time. He speaks calmly and lovingly to his mother and sister, he seems to be the only one sane in the house. But Penny still tries in every way to ruin his life: refusing to go to the rehab, taking him to drug dealers, trying to check his hand while driving when knowing she can't get the car balanced, trespassing the auditorium while clapping and screaming like a lunatic......Penny is too heavy a burden for any healthy child. Yet Eli did it. He stopped the drug dealer from killing or raping his mother(although they are not corrupted in the heart anyway), he got the second chance of audition, he sent his mother into rehab, Nicole ends up in a safe environment where she gets to keep Mario and fits into the child society gradually, and Eli wins Chloe's heart with a super romantic monologue. Eli blames no one, he waves off all the obstacles and torture with humor, and he sticks to his goal and dissolve the problems with courage and delicacy beyond his age. Eli has a special position in my ranking of all the film characters. Sprinkles is a basketball star that was knocked to the bottom of society with a huge setback. Although he has to go back to his drug-dealer profession, I feel pain-stroked when I imagine the gap between his life as a drug dealer and one as a sport star. I have no idea how many nights he cries into sleep that cultivate his cruel and tough character, but I am sure that life owes him so much that the stolen trophy doesn't even start to compensate for it.

If this movie didn't hit home for some people, perhaps they've never grown up with an addict for a parent. While that's fortunate for them - for the rest of us who have - we can find some comfort in this movie, which somehow adds humor to an often painful experience. As I watched the movie, I was also convinced Melissa Leo must have interviewed my own mother for research. She was incredibly spot on - down to the hippie, disheveled clothing and hair, the premature strain of aging due to substance abuse, and all the associated wackiness. Despite it all, Melissa's character loved her children and wanted the best for them - her biggest challenge was learning how to keep it together. Even the family relationships with her perfect suburbanite sister, Jesse's character, and the pre-teen sister mimicked my own. I know people viewing my own life and that of my family can sometimes be horrified; I imagine this film produced the same effect for those who grew up with a more cookie-cutter existence. To those, I can understand why the plot and characters didn't thrill - but for me, I can attest this was/is an incredibly realistic view of my own family, right down to the Mother telling her son to watch his own self, because addiction is a "gene." The team who put this together is absolutely brilliant - brilliant because they depicted such a real and tragic situation in a funny, light-hearted way, through the eyes of someone who has been there and can chalk it up to life. I'd take this film any day over some Hollywood blockbuster, glittering up reality.

This is one of those bonding comedies with characters that despise each other coming together. But the thing is the bonding is underdeveloped and just not engaging and the comedic moments are few but just isn't all that funny. In fact most of the comedic moments come from constant arguing and it gets old pretty darn quick. The plot is about a guy that is talented with the piano who is played by Jesse Eisenberg who career doesn't seem to be going up after "The Social Network". And in this his character is trying to get his mom to rehab but in order for her to be part of the program she has to have certain amount of drugs in her system and because she doesn't have insurance. So they decide to find a drug dealer to get drugs to get drugs in his mother's system. And the drug dealer is played by Tracy Morgan and they all get put in a situation to stick together in order for each of them to get what they want. Nothing about the story or the performances stands out in this flick. I never found myself laughing or engaged into the story. Most of the elements in this movie has been done before and better. It's watchable to a degree but isn't really worth the time. 3.8/10

'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. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcoZRlVFMzA

Funny little comedy with some meaningful dramatic moments and some self-help ideas incorporated, "Why Stop Now" has Jesse Eisenberg playing Eli, a piano prodigy who's struggling to enter into a great music school (which he can get it by performing at an audition) and many problems to solve at home, one them is to take his mother (Melissa Leo) to a rehabilitation clinic to cure her drug addiction. However, when she's rejected there due to her results came back negative from drug use, Eli will find a way to put her in there even if it takes to meet her messy drug suppliers (Tracy Morgan and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and join them in a bizarre journey and a very unlikely friendship between everyone involved. Kind of a funny story yet a very strange proposition the directors and writers are making to us. The whole thing involving Eli trying to put his mom in the hospital in such a hurried and problematic way would work better in a dramatic piece; in here, it almost gets controversial, not comical and it slows the film a little. But it manages to stay positive and be positive, anyway. It's more about being just a barrel of laughters, it has a purpose. It's a story about taking chances, doing some changes in the game and be focused in what you really want. The characters are all driven to those things, into rebuilding the moment in which they are to become better individuals. Sounds corny but it doesn't look all that, and there's plenty of humored moments to fill in the middle of those helpful parts. I think this could be said of this film: it's a group therapy located out of a rehabilitation center and with plenty of craziness in the between "sessions". Worths giving a try more because of the stars in it than the plot itself (this story made a few years ago would be great; now it's almost too much clichéd). Morgan makes almost his usual routine in terms of comedy except he has some good dramatic scenes; Whitlock was good, given a few good lines here and there, nothing like his priceless character in "Cedar Rapids"; and the best in the show are Leo and Eisenberg, mostly Jesse, who not only is the funniest on scene (thankfully to a lot of cussing moments and his fast delivery speech which always works nicely) but also he seems to be quite a skillful piano player, executing marvelous pieces. Not amusing as it could and should be, or greatly bright in its serious issues, "Why Stop Now" is a fun picture, very handy these days when all you see is special effects thrown at you and no character development whatsoever. There's life in this. 8/10

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.