Why Stop Now (DVD REVIEW)
Why Stop Now
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Piano
Prodigy Frustrated by Drug-Addicted Mom in Dysfunctional Family Dramedy
Eli Bloom (Jesse Eisenberg) is a
classical music prodigy who dreams of attending a prestigious conservatory in Boston. The only thing
standing in the way of his promising future is the constant distraction of
having to care for his 9 year-old sister, Nicole (Emma Rayne Lyle), and his
mother (Melissa Leo), a 45 year-old cocaine addict who just can’t seem to get
her act together.
She finally agrees to enter rehab on
the very same day of his big audition. But a complication arises when she’s
rejected by the clinic for passing the drug test they administer, since the
program only admits people who flunk.
Therefore, Penny pressures her son
to purchase $50 worth of blow from her dealer (Tracy
Morgan) so she
can get good and high to satisfy the center’s by-the-book bureaucrats. Although
Eli’d prefer to be practicing piano, he grudgingly agrees to approach the
pusher, unaware that his mom happens to be deeply indebted to the guy.
Then, once Sprinkles learns that Eli
is Penny’s son, he and his henchman, Black (Isiah
Whitlock, Jr.), proceed
to carjack the whole blooming Bloom family in order to recoup their losses come
Hell or high water. Meanwhile, time’s a wasting and the odds that Eli will even
be able to attend his audition worsen by the minute.
So unfolds Why Stop Now, a raucous
road dramedy featuring the unlikely casting of Oscar-winner Melissa Leo (for
The Fighter) and Oscar-nominee Jesse Eisenberg (for The Social Network)
opposite SNL alumnus Tracy Morgan. The oil-and-water is a classic case study of squandered talent, with the serious
thespians looking lost when asked to react to the motor-mouthed comic’s
ostensibly improvised jokes like “somebody needs tough-actin’ Tinactin” about
smelly feet.
Whitlock
isn’t any funnier as Morgan’s partner-in-crime, coming off as mean-spirited
when he tosses little Nicole’s beloved puppet out the window of the moving
auto. Nonetheless, the movie delivers just enough laughs to remain recommended,
despite the fact that this hard to pigeonhole head-scratcher would have
benefitted from making a total commitment to either comedy or drama.
Good (2 stars)
Unrated
In English and
Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 88
minutes
Distributor: MPI Home
Video/IFC Films
DVD Extras:
Featurette; Tracy Morgan interview; and a trailer.
To see a trailer for Why Stop Now, visit:
No comments:
Post a Comment