Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The Adderall Diaries, Stephen's (James Franco) first book is called A" Part" but while it bears a different title, it's clearly just a substitute for "A Life Without Consequences", and it's those details that dismantle and nearly destroy Stephen, riding high on his success, when their lack of veracity is revealed. The Adderall Diaries is a tough film and has several different elements and subplots within the story. It may feel clustered at once, but the film is quite interesting for those reasons. There appears to be much happening, and although it is well acted, it does not feel forced in any way. The film really does a good job of its flashback scenes, where Franco and Ed Harris (playing his father) tell their point of views of how they lived going up. These flashbacks are constantly brought up and shown, and they play an important part within the end. Amber Heard does a solid job playing Franco's love interest. The film is quite short, at 87 minutes. Perhaps they could have developed the story a little more, though the film is quite good and worth a watch.

This was a pretty good turn for Franco, one of his best attempts at drama in indi cinema. Franco is the protagonist, a writer who wrote a great book about his broken childhood, and the relationship with his abusive father, but it comes to life that what he's passing off as truth may not be all that, and he tries to redeem his career with a new book about a True Crime, evolving a father (played by Christian Slater, who I have not scene in forever) whose on trail for the murder of his wife.It's an Intriguing story about how sometimes we remember things differently than they actually happen. James Franco played this role well. It was not a matter of weather he was right or wrong, but just a matter of how he saw things that was not entirely accurate.Ed Harris and Franco had some really good scenes together as well. Harris played the abusive father who, like his son, remembers events differently. The father son connection felt very realistic.This is not the first time Franco has done a film on Child abuse (also not the fist time Amber Heard played an ex-punk rock bases with a few issues, she also did it in the recent but horrible film One More Time). Franco also tackled the trouble youth Topic in the film Yosemite, but that movie was a little more serious while this one is definitely better done. I can recommend.

The film is about personal perspective and how far we can delude ourselves about who we are and the events which created us. For such a tricky topic, I thought they did an excellent job. The catalysts and personal revelations were believable, and I found the pacing exactly right for this type of film.With each scene, the film both offers us information about the characters and invites us to question what we've been told. Finely nuanced contradictions kept me fascinated, waiting for explanations. When answers were presented, they were satisfying but also left me with the understanding that the story was far more complex than we could ever know, that truth was still and would always be subjective, and that the question of who are the villains and who are the victims could only be answered: "All of us."I don't know that it will appeal to everyone, but if you're a fan of psychological dramas (not thriller, just drama), you will likely enjoy this as much as I did.Beware of the resulting soul-searching you might experience about who are the heroes and monsters in your own life story.

Writer/director Pamela Romanowsky's adaptation of "The Adderall Diaries" based on Stephen Elliott's memoir has so many great ideas. It's a blend of different genres that calls back to many different films from the past however, it's unfocused execution and narrative ultimately leaves you bewildered rather than intrigued.Starring Academy Award nominee James Franco as Stephen Elliott, an author whose world is turned upside down when his estranged father (played by Ed Harris) accuses him in public of fabricating his book which tells the story of his life. With a new relationship, drug relapse, and focusing on a very public murder trial, will Stephen be able to survive everything that life is throwing at him?As previously mentioned, there's A LOT going on in the story. We're getting elements of "Shattered Glass" then "Blue Valentine" then "The Basketball Diaries." Romanowsky isn't confident about what she wants her film to be. Does she want it to be a film about family relationships or dissection of the mind of an addict? Does she want to explore the ramifications of sex through violence or is she trying to make a statement about the perception of our lives within ourselves? She's saying so many things that it all ends up on blurred lines and in a haze. I will say that her abilities is a filmmaker is nothing to scoff at. She creates genuine moments and settles into her better written scenes with courage and ferocity. I'd still be very intrigued to see her next venture.James Franco's resume with independent cinema has left much to be desired. His performances are often self-indulgent or misguided by his own direction or any other filmmaker he's working with. His turn in "The Adderall Diaries" is one of his more impressive works that he's constructed as of late. Though his motivations and actions aren't always made abundantly clear, Franco sheds some of his barriers to allow some connection with his audience.You can't get much better than Ed Harris in terms of an actor that shines in just about anything he does, no matter how the film he inhabits turns out. As Neil, Stephen's father, Harris elevates the thin material and focuses on the emotion of a father's regret with near precision. I'm still anxiously awaiting his Oscar-winning role. This doesn't quite make the cut.Other aspects of the film include the beautiful Amber Heard, the multi-talented Cynthia Nixon, the oddly involved Christian Slater, and the scene-stealing abilities of Jim Parrack (Hoyt from "True Blood").Overall "The Adderall Diaries" is a misguided attempt by a director who has a keen eye for some things but lacks in others. Romanowsky's guidance on her actors are some of the film's biggest highlights but ultimately just falls short in too many spots. The opening sequence was quite good and there was a scene in which I nearly cried. Some may find some qualities to take home with them, others will simply leave it at the door.