A simple Faustian tale

Rating: 7/10 (27 March 2011)

The premise of the film is simple, what if by taking a magic pill you could increase your brains ability to the extent that you become a genius at whatever you put your mind too?
This has been explored in a lot of movies in various different ways and follows the simple German folklore tale of Faust a man who makes a deal with Mephistopheles (the Devil) to gain access to the divine knowledge, once the pact is made his soul is damned for eternity.
That is where this film falls down, although the set up is good and the characters and acting interesting it doesn't really explore anything with any real depth. The moral ambiguities of this gift or the repercussions of using it for either personal gain or to the benefit of mankind are never really thought of or considered. They appear as passing thoughts with no reflection or comment.
You do get to see different types of people take the drug to explore how different people would use it, but this opportunity is lost really as the contrasts are broadly drawn and quickly stepped over.
The central character seems to be rather one dimensional even with his gift and strands to the narrative are simply left open or unresolved.
Having said all that, if you shut down your active mind and just look at the beautiful people and don't go looking to deep into the story what passes is a couple of hours of good fun, with some neat camera techniques, amazing visuals and an interesting premise that will get you thinking, if not really exploring the potential of the source material to the full itself.