Life after a drug that suppresses appetite I confess that I did not expect anything great from the drama Adderall Diaries, in general I wanted the film to come out watchable and at least in a one-time equivalent brought some positive emotions. And the reason for such a skeptical attitude to the still unwatched film was the actor who played the main character, namely James Franco. His latest films have left a depressing impression on me: Wild Horses (2014), Queen of the Desert (2015) and Everything Will Be Fine (2015) have all been categorized as “could have done.” Believe me, I’m not one of those people who doesn’t like James Franco for some personal subjective reasons, I remember his great roles in Spider-Man and 127 Hours, but his movies have been disappointing lately. For his incomplete 40 years, the actor has already been noted in more than a hundred projects (!), and he also learns and teaches himself and such a capacity for work is commendable, but quantity is not always quality and this rule works for James Franco.
In the Adderall Diaries, Franco plays the role of Stephen Elliott, a writer whose memoirs published a book that later became the literary basis for the film adaptation by director Pamela Romanovski, whose merits are still very early to speak. Now, this Steven Elliott is a very strange man. His first book brought him popularity, but everyone is waiting for his new works, but he does not start this business. Suddenly, the trial of a certain Hans Reiser leads Stephen to some thoughts and the contours of a new novel loom on the horizon. Stephen appears at a meeting where he meets a girl as strange as himself named Lana Edmond and they have something like a romantic relationship. I don't know if it helps Elliott or doesn't. And then during the lecture, which led the writer, his father suddenly appears, and Elliott managed to bury him in the pages of his first book. For defamation with Stephen terminated contracts, the girl leaves, and he really did not take up work.
With all this, the film, as well as the actions of its characters, remains a huge number of questions. First of all, what drove Stephen so much when he became interested in the trial of Reiser accused of murdering his wife? It seems that we are hinted that he has some mystical connection with this case, but this is only a guess, because there is no exact answer. Then more. Okay, I can see why the father came and exposed his son's deception in front of everyone, but where has he been for so long? Seems like anger was building up. And then Stephen's father presents his appearance in a completely different light, and then his initial behavior is completely bewildered. Okay, Lana Edmond was a strange girl from the beginning, but it seems like she found a soul mate in Elliott, but then somehow she breaks up with him, considering him a drug addict. Are you better? And then in general behaves like a frigid creature, completely unlike the attractive and mysterious person she appeared at first. What is behind this transformation? The answer lies somewhere very far away and probably will never be found.
And with all these indistinct dispositions in the characters of the film, where this notorious indistinctness lies, in my opinion, entirely on the director of Adderall Diaries, how did the actors behave? There is no joy in playing James Franco. So far, all he can squeeze out of himself is sparks in his eyes when happiness seems to overtake him, and some moroseness when sadness eats him up. There is nothing more to say about this once really talented actor, about whom you want to think that he will take his head and give up a good couple of dozen standing roles. May the ardent admirers of his talent forgive me for the above. The role of the father of the main character was given to Ed Harris. Once upon a time, quite recently, this name was on the hearsay and Ed starred in such films as “The Rock” and “Mind Games”, but recently he also has a creative crisis. Maybe it's time to think about a quiet old age? Although without Harris, Hollywood wouldn't be the same. And does not flaunt his grace and separation in the game Amber Heard. Was that how she was affected by her friction with her now ex-husband Johnny Depp? So they saw the eyes that they took.
In general, if you have not yet reached the Adderall Diaries, then you should not do so. This is not “Roma Diary” and not even “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, this is some sad and boring narrative, where huge holes in the plot connections gap, and the characters leave only complete bewilderment with their behavior and actions. Therefore, even if you are a huge connoisseur of James Franco, or Amber Heard, or Ed Harris, or Christian Slater at the worst (yes, this drinker and brawler who destroyed his career is also here), then at least do not demand something good from your favorites, treat the Adderall Diaries philosophically.
4 out of 10