Premieres
The trailer for IFC Films’ Why Stop Now, co-starring Jesse Eisenberg, Tracy Morgan and Melissa Leo, has arrived. The indie, formerly called Predisposed, debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, after which IFC acquired the North American rights.
Why Stop Now tells the story of Eli, a piano prodigy (Eisenberg) struggling through an increasingly chaotic day that includes an audition for a prestigious music program. Fueling the chaos: his drug-addicted mother, Penny, (Leo) needs her fix from her drug dealer, named Sprinkles (Morgan), so she can qualify for rehab (yes, that is the plot).
PHOTOS: The Scene at Sundance Film Festival 2012
Eisenberg, who can now be seen as a cheating boyfriend in Woody Allen‘s To Rome With Love, is again in typical brainy-neurotic mode here.
In a THR review, critic John DeFore said: “Trying to sell her character’s overemotional cluelessness, Leo lays it on thick; Eisenberg is exceptionally high-strung, forcing us to ask why, if Eli knows Penny’s faults so well, he doesn’t find a way to keep her out of the action.”
“It’s saying something when Tracy Morgan is the sane performer in an ensemble like this,” he continued. “But the actor is one of the picture’s bright spots, rejecting opportunities to draw attention to himself and almost making the script’s more reflective beats work.”
Why Stop Now hits theaters in August and will be available On Demand via IFC Films on Friday.
Watch the trailer below.
