Why Stop Now

Synopsis: The story of Eli Smith (Jesse Eisenberg), a piano prodigy, dealing with his troubled mother, Penny (Melissa Leo), and enlisting help from a hapless drug dealer, Sprinkles (Tracy Morgan), on the day he has an audition for a prestigious music program. Events spiral comically out of control as this gang of misfits faces the mistakes of the past, the challenges of the future, and the possibilities of love.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Production: IFC Films
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
5.6
Metacritic:
36
Rotten Tomatoes:
24%
R
Year:
2012
85 min
$1,641
Website
85 Views


1

J"J"

- Hey.

- Hey, you're almost late.

Are you trying to make me nervous-

- Yeah, whatever, Dave.

I'm here, okay?

- What-what's with the hand?

- Nothing, I'm fine.

Do you know

how serious this is?

They only have one spot to fill.

I had to do a lot of talking

to get them to see you.

I had to explain

what you've been doing

since you graduated.

I've been stocking shelves

at Price Mart.

Does that embarrass you?

- Whoa!

Whoa.

- Okay, sorry.

Sorry, I'm just...

Look, I don't think

I can do this, actually.

I think I'm gonna go.

- Eli, Eli!

- What?

You're the one, E.

J"J"

I'm the one what, Dave?

You believe in me,

but you're delusional.

And you have no idea

of the sh*t

I put myself through today

just to get here.

J"J"

I should have gone to bed

early last night,

rest up for my audition,

or at least practice.

Yeah, but some jock a**holes

were having a party

in the neighborhood,

and, well,

no one invited me...

so I showed up.

Yes! Yes!

Suck it.

No, no, round three,

round three!

Round three!

All right, all right!

Come on, come on!

You're not in the game!

You're not in the game!

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

What's your problem, man?

You're making a mess!

- One second, okay?

One second.

One second.

One second.

I said you're making a mess.

- And I heard, I heard,

but listen,

get a towel

and clean it up, okay?

I'll owe you.

- No, no, no,

you're coming with me.

- You're the one

spilling everywhere.

You're done.

Nobody likes you.

F*** you, seriously.

Get the hell out of my house!

- No, dude, no.

I'm still here.

- I said, get the hell

out of my house!

- Hey, relax, dude!

Relax.

Eli, are you okay?

- Yeah.

Oh, God,

what the hell's that?

Yo, yo, yo, watch it!

Hey, yo.

Hey, a**hole, get out of here.

- Chill out, man.

Nobody wants you here.

Sorry.

J"J"

Eli.

J"J"

Eli is a train wreck.

And I like it!

- Shut up.

Oh, God.

No, I'm fine.

J"J"

Okay.

- You're done.

Get up.

Get up!

Sorry about that.

Careful!

I am okay.

The ground is, like,

moving around a little bit.

You're good.

Eli!

Mr. Badass Piano Man.

All right, all right-

I'll see you-

- I shall see you soon.

BYE. guys.

Take your pants off

and use protection, okay?

- How are you?

Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm great.

How you doing?

I'm-l'm okay.

But I didn't just puke

while I was playing

beautiful music.

Thanks.

Yeah, I think the beer

was stale or something.

I think that's

what did it.

Sure, all right.

We'll call it that.

Are you gonna drive home?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I'm drinking water.

I'm sobering up.

Eli...

I'm fine, really, seriously.

I'll wait it out

for a few minutes here.

I'm good, but thank you.

- Okay, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Uh, so...what else is new?

- What's new?

- Yeah.

There's a two-for-one sale

on saltines.

Okay.

It's $2.85.

There's a 24-pack of water

that's $4.49.

- No!

- Mm-hmm.

- Wow.

Wow!

I stock all that sh*t.

You don't have to tell me.

Okay.

- How about you?

How's, um-

how's school?

It's good.

I didn't get as good of grades

as I wanted,

but, um...

I'm getting a good internship

from my anthropology teacher,

so...

That sounds nice.

What's "not too well,"

like, 3.8?

Ifs a...

3.6 G-point average.

- Oh.

Letting yourself go.

3.6?

- Mm-hmm.

- You too busy fending off

boys or something to focus?

What are you doing?

You need to stop.

Sorry.

Sorry.

I'm an a**hole.

I forgot, sorry.

Anyway, it was good to, um-

Okay, I gotta go.

Oh, there's a checkpoint

on 28th,

so drive carefully,

all right?

All right.

J"J"

J"J"

Mom?

Mom, are you up?

We gotta be out

in five minutes, okay?

- J' That it would take

more than I have J'

All right, looks good.

Nicole, you gotta

eat quickly today, okay?

We're in a hurry.

Nicole's not hungry.

Okay, Nicole, you gotta eat.

Nicole's not hungry!

- Two bites,

then get your stuff together.

Hey, Mom!

I'm not hungry!

' Mom!

Let's

Day one of rehab starts today.

28 to go.

Whoa.

That's new.

Isis,

goddess of motherhood.

The goddess of motherhood.

That's good; that's, uh-

that's relevant.

That's just like you, right?

- I just wanted to finish it

before I, uh...leave.

Good, it's good.

You're really

hitting your stride.

I think you'll be

gallery material in no time.

What's with the jacket?

Huh?

You look like you're headed off

to a Young Republicans'

convention.

- I just-

I wanted to look good...

uh, for you.

Lose it.

Doesn't look good on you.

- All right,

thanks for the fashion tip.

You told work

you were taking off?

- Yeah, I told them I was

taking you guys to Disneyland.

- Disneyland's the one

in California, so...

What?

Nothing.

You ready?

- Yeah.

You?

- Let's go.

After you.

Hope you have everything.

Okay, and you have Julio, right?

- Yep.

- You have Julio.

- Okay, then let's go

Let's go-.

- He's gotta go to camp too,

right?

You going to be nice

to the other children?

Yes.

Okay, I love you, Julio.

- All right, you got everything?

You have your ID?

You have

your social security card?

- One, two, three,

whoopsy-daisy.

- Clean underwear?

- Yeah, calm down.

What's got into you?

Buckle up.

Oh.

- Ah, yes.

Thank you, Julio.

Emergency brake's still on.

- What?

- The emergency brake.

- Oh, the emergency brake's on.

Park in this driveway

without an emergency brake.

Why are you so nervous?

I'm the one who

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Phil Dorling

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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