Drug abuse stories are to Hollywood what babies are to mothers: fascinating to the talkers, not so interesting for their audiences.
“Why Stop Now?” begins with a suburban mom (Melissa Leo) who is a junkie facing a Catch-22 when she tries to enter rehab: She has no drugs in her system at the moment, so the treatment center tells her to go out and get high in order to secure a place. Together with her equally messed-up son (Jesse Eisenberg), a gifted pianist who drinks heavily, they go on a wacky trip to get some more drugs.
Given that they are the authors of their own misfortunes, the lead characters are difficult to care about (the same is true of the pianist’s insufferably cute little sister, who mainly communicates through a hand puppet), and the stakes are minimal. So what if the son fails an audition? There will be others. Efforts to supply him with a plausible love interest are half-hearted.
Still, the movie, which was co-written and directed by newcomer Philip Dorling and veteran Ron Nyswaner, who wrote “Philadelphia,” acquires a little vigor and some fun from Tracy Morgan as a friendly drug dealer who lives with his mom.
Morgan’s funny commentary on the improbable action as he and the family drive around making drug deals partially redeems the first-novel-ish aspect of this thin, routine indie.