Author Stephen Elliot has written a book about the abuse he suffered growing up from his father. He has a new offer to write a short story and it came with a decent advance. As he has been promoting himself, he finds a murder case that strikes his interest due to some of the details in the case mirroring his childhood. He meets a reporter there named Lana and she feels like Stephen is like a weight that can drag down the people around him.
From Pamela Romanowsky, THE ADDERALL DIARIES is a very strange look into the idea that sometimes people remember things differently than they actually happen. Romanowsky does an excellent job in tricking the viewers into thinking what’s happen on screen is actually the way it is. The torment that you get from James Franco is convincing. He manages to make the character into a likable leech that people around him put up with. As he dives deeper into the drugs and self-loathing, you never really know if you can trust his character. This movie is dark and expect excellent performances from every actor.
Cast
James Franco – Stephen Elliott
Timothee Chalamet – teenage Stephen Elliott
Ed Harris – Neil Elliott
Amber Heard – Lana Edmond
Christian Slater – Hans Reiser
Jim Parrack – Roger
Danny Flaherty – teenage Roger
Wilmer Valderrama – Josh
Cynthia Nixon – Jen Davis
Michael Cristofer – Paul Hora
The transfer is a 1080p AVC presentation.
The transfer???? as a lot of darker scenes and they have good contrasting that make seeing the images a little easier at times. The film itself has a gritty feel that comes through even though it was filmed with a digital RED EPIC Mysterium-X camera. The transfer has plenty of good points but there are a few hiccups in the presentation. With those dark scenes, the contrasting is accompanied by crushing and artifacts. It is minimal but definitely noticeable. There are also some scenes where the gamma or exposure might be turned up a little too much.
The audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix.
The audio is a very good and dynamic mix. It is very dialogue-centric and really uses that center channel. Some of the voices move around the other speakers during the courtroom or apartment scenes but this is to show the kind of open space the filmmakers were working with. The effects have been reproduced well, especially the motorcycles. They use the bass and treble to create a loud & level sound. Also, the rest of the effects move through the sound field. The score also sounds great. It uses the bass & treble evenly and accurately like the sound effects do. As a whole, it is adequate for the film.
Bonus Features:
-Audio Commentary with director Pamela Romanowsky
-THE ADDERALL DIARIES: A Director’s Perspective
-Deleted Scenes
Disc Details
1 Blu-ray disc
Running Time
87 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
Region A
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
THE ADDERALL DIARIES is one of those films that is dark in a way that could possibly leave you uncomfortable. There are a lot of dark elements weaved throughout that, even with the “happy” ending, the finish isn’t really incredibly positive. The audio & video transfer is about average but I’d say the audio is the strongest between the two. The special features are a little light but the director’s perspective was nice to see. Overall, I’d rent this one before picking it up.
