Eddie Morra is a down on his luck depressed, 30 something writer in New York who has hit a wall in his life. He looks like death, he has writers block and his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) has just left him due to his selfish and depressing ways. His life is pretty much over in his mind. When he bumps into his ex brother in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth as everyone in the 90's will know from the hugely popular movie Empire Records "it's AJ people") who used to be a dealer. But now he has a product that might not be so bad after all. Devised by a mysterious team, this pill is described as a drug which will open up our mind and allow us to use the parts of the brain giving us 100% usage instead of only 20%. What occurs next is amazing. The pill opens Eddie's mind up. He is able to recall information that he saw as a child, learns a whole language in a few days, and is able to finish his book within a day. It makes his life, in a word, clearer. But the effects soon diminish and he is back to square one. After contacting Vernon who has now been murdered in his apartment, Eddie steals his stash and starts to enjoy the benefits the drug brings. He becomes friends with the high flyer's of New York and with it brings women, luxury vacations, fast cars and eventually wins back his girlfriend. But he needs to find a way to bring increase his wealth. With his new talent he starts to invest in the stock market and starts to make a killing. It is here he is head hunted by huge stock market expertise Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) who is going to help him land big deals, with even bigger money. But what comes up must come down as Eddie experiences that with his new pill comes the bad side as well. He endures blackouts, could be a murderer and suddenly finds himself followed by strange people watching his every move. Could this pill actually be more pain than it's worth? Can't say anymore because I will ruin it. But it is good.
All I can say is Bradley Cooper makes this film. The guy reaches every range of his acting talent and really is in every single scene using it. The dude has never been better, and this movie better get Hollywood to realise they have a very crafted actor in this man. I couldn't help but really like his character, and me being me, wanted to stand up and applaud when they finally cut his hair (sorry but it annoyed me to the extreme) Bradley plays off Hollywood vet De Niro extremely well and holds his own. De Niro finally looks like he wanted to be in this movie and didn't look like he was doing it for the paycheck (I am going to mention it again, but you can't be that desperate to do another Meet the Parents movie are you Robert?) He makes a sinister stock broker and pulls it off well. I must say I also thought Aussie actress Abbie Cornish had great chemistry with Cooper. I have never really liked her before, but she seems to be making an impact on the Hollywood scene and if she chooses roles like this one, will have a very interesting and rewarding career.
I must give my hat off to director Neil Burger. He makes this movie go at a pace which is extremely well done, placing enough action, enough dialogue and enough tense moments in this movie to keep the audience wanting more. The use of light and special effects to maximise this new drug so that the viewer can also experience it, is extremely well done. I couldn't help but think of the 90's movie Hackers (yes I love this movie and so does many others if your laughing right now) with it's visuals and fast paced use of the camera and music. I must admit though, there is one scene where the viewer is going to squirm in their seat. I didn't think anyone in the preview screening wasn't a bit grossed out by it. I'm not going to tell you about it, you will just have to see.
The only problem I had with this movie was that I was a bit unsure of a few things, which I can't list here as it will spoil the movie. But maybe on repeat viewing I will work it out, or maybe I will just need a pill to help access the rest of my brain so I can understand it. The advertisements don't do this movie justice. The film is actually a lot smarter than what I thought it would be and I came out of this movie thinking, have we already found a great thriller for 2011? This is one of those movies which is so original that you just want to congratulate the studio for finally doing something different. This is definitely one trip you will have to take. I don't endorse drugs, but if I did this would definitely be my drug of choice. 3.5/5
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