Develiker terrible... so disappointed.

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Aristides-2 Some thoughts on this dog of a movie: Cary Grant and George Clooney, both of whom could act charmingly on screen never attempted to carry a film just with that quality. Mr Franco, you don't have the restraint, judgment or charm of Grant or Clooney. Give acting via characterization a try. Poor Ms. Heard, seemingly a naif, is to be believed to be a crime reporter for the NY Times? More likely that she is a children's book reviewer limited to books for ages 3 and under. Also highly laughable was the amount of free time she had while on the Times' nickel. Cynthia Nixon had what can be described as a thankless role; that of a slavishly loyal agent who still 'believes' in Franco's cosmic talent even after he's caught publicly in a massive lie. And we're to believe that a major publisher would still back this liar after such a damaging disclosure? The straw that broke the dromedary's back for me re screenplay however was when the barely-in-control father (Ed Harris), looking like a bum, was somehow able to find out the address of a N.Y. Times reporter and tape a post-it to 'her door'. Enough. I surrender. I turn off the player and go watch a real movie, "Chicken With Plums" in this instance.

Tony Heck "A father does what he has to do to protect his children." Stephen Elliott (Franco) is a successful writer who is going through a bout of writers block. He begins to find inspiration in a court case involving the murder of a woman by her husband. The trial begins to drag up painful memories of his own past and living with his father Neil (Harris). When Neil once again shows up Stephen begins to spiral and it effects every aspect of his life. This is a strange movie. The acting is great, as expected but the idea is a little generic and overused. The thing that really keeps the movie from being too cookie cutter are the actors. Franco does a great job playing the tortured soul, Heard is great as the confused girlfriend and Harris, as always, steals the movie and plays his part so perfect that you aren't sure if he is really as bad as Elliott portrays him. All that said this is a a decent movie but nothing to rush and see. Overall, great acting and casting really makes this movie better than it could have been. Worth a rent. I give this a B-.

wildsparrow16 This movie is journey about coming to terms with who you are and how you became that person. The enigmatic Franco plays a deeply troubled writer who is trying to come to terms with his traumatic past and the heartbreakingly tumultuous relationship he had with his father. Along the way, he meets the beautiful Amber Heard. This is why I did not give the movie more stars. If it was the writers intent to portray her as damaged as he was, it was an epic fail. She came across as strong and self-assured -almost cocky at times - not what you would expect from someone reeling from childhood trauma. It was no fault of Heard's - her character was just badly written. Ed Harris rocks the screen, as usual, as the domineering father who haunts his dreams and creates the clouds of his past that he can't see through.The mind is amazing - we can do all sorts of things to protect ourselves. The ability to alter our memories is only one tool of many. This one is worth your time.

Paul Allaer "The Adderall Diaries" (2015 release; running time: 90 min.) brings the story of how Stephen Elliott (played by James Franco) deals with his distant past and also some current setbacks. As the movie opens, we see grainy video footage of a seemingly happy family. We then move to today, where Elliot gets the good news that Penguin has accepted a book proposal. In a parallel story, Elliot gets interested in a murder case (software engineer, played by Christian Slater, "disappears" his wife), and at the trial, Elliot makes the acquaintance of Lana, a NY Times reporter (played by Amber Heard. To tell you more might spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the feature length debut of writer-director Pamela Romanowsky, who was handpicked by James Franco himself for this job. The movie is based on the Stephen Elliot book of the same name. I have not read the book so I cannot compare how closely (or not) the movie is to the book. I had high expectations going in for this movie. Oh boy, what a disappointment this turned out to be, and I'm being mild. It takes a little while to figure out what is going on, but when it finally start to male sense, I waited to get transfixed. I waited, and waited.... Meanwhile, we see poor James Franco playing the tormented writer, struggling with writers block, and his horrible past, and it all feels so... acted!. We watch, and it does nothing for us. Thankfully there is Amber Heard, always easy on the eyes (and reason I don't give the movie just one star). Ed Harris (as Elliott's dad) and Christian Slater do the best they can with the material they are given, meaning not a whole lot. PLEASE NOTE: the running time is listed here on IMDb, Amazon and other places as being 105 min., but I can categorically tell you that the version I saw today was at most 90 min. Maybe the 105 min. refers to what was shown as the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, where this movie premiered. Yes, a year ago. Also, it turns out that Stephen Elliott himself has disavowed the movie.The movie opened today out of the blue without any pre-release advertising or fanfare at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The early evening screening where I saw this at was not well attended, and I'm being mild (4 people, including myself). I can't imagine this will play in the theater more than a week. There is a reason this movie currently scores only 20 on Rotten Tomatoes: it's a pretty bad movie, in fact one of the worst I've seen in quite a while (and I see a lot of movies). Unless you are a die-hard fan of James Franco or Amber Heard, there is no reason at all to waste 90 or 105 min. on this. I'm sorry that I watched this movie, but that doesn't mean you have to.... Viewer beware!