The antagonist should have been the main character

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2011)

Given the excellent production values and acting talent on display, this movie was ultimately a disappointment to me. Its story is as empty of substance as the little clear pill, NZT. So what we are really being shown is a quest narrative, as the hero attempts to regain and hold onto a magic object that gives its owner "limitless" power without having to claim any responsibility for that privilege.
Although we are presented with a character developing a serious drug addiction, this story doesn't give the audience any reason to care about what happens to him or the people around him. Unlike the many great screen addicts who have compelled us to watch their struggle, whom we have come to care about, or who have made us uneasy and upset, this movie's protagonist does not captivate the audience despite all his pharmaceutically induced super human powers that are meant to charm and distract us.
By the end of the movie I was more interested in the antagonist, played by Robert DeNiro; the only character with any calculable arc, or any demonstrable depth. The best dialog in the movie comes almost as an aside, when DeNiro's character emotionally reveals himself to the protagonist, whom he describes as a petulant "freak". And at that point, agreeing with him, I was totally adrift, utterly unconcerned about the protagonist's ending despite the literal cliffhanger I was promised a resolution to at the movie's beginning. From that sun-drenched moment of illumination, beautifully shot in front of a Rothko painting, I was left with little else besides special effects, stunts, helicopter shots and life styles of the rich and famous set pieces; not much to contemplate or inspire.