Jesse Eisenberg’s performance in Why Stop Now is a compromise between his roles in The Social Network and 30 Minutes or Less. In the former, he played a dramatized version of Mark Zuckerberg, a young man whose focus was so narrow and intense that Asperger’s was certainly within the realm of possibility. In the latter, he played a panicked pizza delivery man forced into robbing a bank with a bomb strapped to his chest. His character in Why Stop Now is a piano prodigy who, in the course of one day, is faced with sending his mother to rehab, getting roped into being a drug dealer’s personal translator, dealing with his little sister’s habit of talking through a sock puppet, and mentally preparing himself for an audition that may get him into a prestigious music academy. He also realizes that he’s in love with one of his classmates, and so he must work up to courage to admit it to her.

On the surface, this sounds like the recipe for a zany slapstick comedy. There are indeed some very funny moments, many of them physical in nature, and yet never once does the humor overshadow the story’s innate humanity. We see a great deal of it in Eisenberg’s performance; his character, named Eli Bloom, is clearly under a lot of stress, and there are times when he loses his temper in sheer frustration, but he still manages to work through each situation. He does this even when he believes he isn’t capable, and more importantly, when he has convinced himself that he has messed things up beyond repair. This isn’t to suggest that he isn’t flawed or in danger of falling into the same traps his mother fell into. His first major scene shows him getting drunk at a party he wasn’t invited to; we eventually learn that this has been a weekend habit of his for quite some time.

The story proper begins the morning Eli drives his mother, a drug addict named Penny (Melissa Leo), to rehab. Despite being a user, the urine sample she provides is clean; that, coupled with the fact that she doesn’t have medical insurance, prevents her from being admitted, a turn of events Eli wasn’t prepared for and is clearly not happy with. He’s scheduled to give a piano recital in a matter of hours, and if all goes well, it may pave the way for his future in music. The only way Penny can commit herself, according to a discrete nurse, is for her to arrive under the influence. Panicked but determined to get his mother the help she so desperately needs, he agrees to meet with her dealer and get her a stash of cocaine. This is obviously something that happens more in the movies than in real life, but you’ve got to give writers/directors Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner credit for their understanding of irony.

In due time, Eli meets the crippled, tough-talking Sprinkle (Tracy Morgan) and his partner in crime, Black (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), both of whom live with Sprinkle’s elderly mother. When Eli inadvertently reveals that he’s fluent in Spanish, an initially straightforward transaction becomes complicated; Sprinkle needs a translator in order to conduct business with his supplier, who either doesn’t know a word of English or refuses to communicate in it. This is something of a plot hole, given the fact that Sprinkle appears to have thus far conducted business just fine without the aid of a translator. Or perhaps this Spanish-speaking supplier is new. The details are sketchy at best. Whatever the case, a brief confrontation at the supplier’s restaurant results in Eli getting his hand injured, seriously jeopardizing his chances of doing well at the recital – assuming he can make it there on time.

As the leads wait for the supplier to deliver the cocaine, other mishaps threaten to derail Eli. He will, for one thing, get loopy on Oxycontin. Not much later, he has to contend with his baby sister, Nicole (Emma Rayne Lyle), who’s having behavior problems in school; not only is she too emotionally reliant on a sock puppet, she uses it as an excuse to say mean things to people. Later still, he must work to find some middle ground for Penny and her sister, Trish (Stephanie March) to stand on. Although they have chosen different life paths, the two are surprisingly similar as far as temperament and stubbornness are concerned. Whereas Penny is known for her lying, manipulation, and false promises, Trish is pretentious, judgmental, and self-righteous. And yet, we’re made to see the decency in both women, especially in Penny, who may not have her act together but truly does want the best for her children.

There’s a subplot involving Eli’s love interest, a young woman named Chloe (Sarah Ramos), who’s part of a Revolutionary War reenactment society. Although the scenes between Eisenberg and Ramos are competently written and performed, they’re by far the most unnecessary and manufactured of the film. I also found myself questioning the ending, the structure of which indicates a lack of consensus on the part of the directors. It starts off rather tidy, perhaps too much so, only to finish on an unsatisfying note of ambiguity. Why Stop Now is a flawed film, but its examination of the Eisenberg character is fascinating, and I found myself drawn on some level to most of the other characters, who aren’t as clear cut as they appear to be. Even the trash-talking Sprinkle isn’t beyond all hope. How would you feel if you had a future in running, only to injure your leg and spend the rest of your life walking with a cane?