The Adderall Diaries (2016)

Please don't spend money on this.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Steven Elliot (James Franco) is a successful author writing about his messed up life caused by his father, who is now deceased. He has a contract for another book, but has writer's block. The murder trial of Hans Reiser (Christian Slater) accused of killing his wife (no body found) catches Steve's attention. Here he meets NYT reporter Lana (Amber Heard) who is an enabler in his pharmaceutical drugged filled life style complete with a desire for pain as foreplay. Things quickly change when dad (Ed Harris) appears at one of his book talks and throws the BS flag. Steven must re-examine his life."True Deception" and "The Adderall Diaries" are the same film. It is about selective or edited memories that we all have and when faced with the truth....well things sometimes change. The acting and drama was good, but the film lacked action or memorable scenes. The idea that things aren't the way they seem and the juxtaposition of Steven's life to that of Hans Reiser needed better clarification. I am sure the book did a better job. The film needed to be edited.Guide: F-word, sex, nudity.

Based on the book by Stephen Elliot by the same name, now although I haven't read it I assume that that did better at putting all the material together than the movie did.There are some standalone scenes that are pretty solid but there's also some questionable ones that feels a bit random.It's listed here as a crime/drama/thriller, but the crime elements is very limited and thriller even more so There is a subplot about a random murder-case involving a character played by Christian Slater but it doesn't have that big of importance in the long scheme of things, at least the movie didn't manage to convey it as it did.The movie is about memories and perceptions of reality and how that can change in time.The message and idea behind the movie is pretty clever and the acting is pretty good (save for maybe Amber Heard who feels a bit empty) and it's decent enough visually but for some reason it just doesn't quiet work as a whole.

Despite the good performances of James Franco, Ed Harris, Amber Heard, and others, "The Adderall Diaries" is disappointing as a drama that seeks to probe into dysfunctional family systems in America.Franco's character, Stephen Elliott, is the focal point of a multi-layered narrative of child abuse, false memories, and adults acting out childhood neuroses. Stephen has turned his troubled family experiences into a gold mine as a bestselling author. But when his father shows up to challenge Stephen's point of view, the life of the author is turned upside down.As the film developed, it seemed to grow more and more unpleasant with sado-masochistic practices in the bedroom, and a tabloid trial of a man (Christian Slater) accused of murdering his wife. The various strands of the film are not effectively tied together, and, by the end, there is no genuine sense of redemption, except in the relationship of Stephen and his best friend from childhood, who seems to have succeeded in creating a conventional and happy family life for himself.The biggest disappointment of "The Adderall Diaries" is that it was incapable of shedding light on such psychological dilemmas as the "false memory" syndrome. The James Franco-Ed Harris relationship of father and son was an interesting tug-of-war. But, sadly, it really never generated much of an emotional response in the viewer.

Hans Reiser gets hooked on a Russian asset, a woman from Saint Petersburg. Reiser is the golden boy from Linux with his Reiser file-system and company Namesys. He has two children with Nina, but "Before her disappearance, Nina Reiser had obtained Russian citizenship for her daughter and son in 2005 and 2006 respectively" . Forensics and LAPD play ball with the Russians and Hans Reiser is arrested for traces of Nina's blood in his car and charged with 1st degree murder. This was a total setup by LAPD and the Forensics department. The charge won't go away and a plea bargain for 2nd degree murder is given if Reiser leads the police to the body of Nina. This then happens (which amazes me to this day) : "Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, who was handcuffed to Reiser and accompanied by a heavy police guard to the site, said that the remains were found buried on the side of a hill between Redwood Regional Park and the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, less than half a mile from the home on Exeter Drive where Reiser lived with his mother, and where Nina Reiser was last seen alive on September 3, 2006.(Lee, Henry K.; Jaxon Van Derbeken; Chronicle Staff Writers (2008-07-07). "Wife-killer leads cops to body in deal with D.A.". SFGate. p. A-1.) Forensics of Nina's body conclude that she was strangled to death. So what was the fuss with Nina's blood planted on purpose in Hans Reiser's car ? Reiser gets 15 years to life in San Quentin State Prison and has been transferred numerous times across the California prison system ever since. "In July 2012, a jury awarded Reiser's children $60 million against their father for the death of Nina Reiser." The Russians have not stopped drinking vodka in Saint Petersburg ever since. The day will come that royalties, copyright amendments and ownership are due for the work of Hans Reiser. The Russians already know today that they will be the sole heirs and beneficiaries to the work of Hans Reiser. In other Linux related news it was reported that on 28 December 2015 the founder of Debian Linux, Ian Murdock, was killed in his apartment under suspicious circumstances. On 9 Mar 2016 Linux hackers were kindly summoned to put their coffees down and listen up as Microsoft had just launched a Debian Linux-based switch operating system.