An entertaining wonder drug based hit

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2015)

(61%) A very watchable popcorn thriller with neat direction, good production values, a degree of bite, fine support, and a strong leading performance from Bradley Cooper. The premise is implemented well even if the script wants to get absolutely every last drop of use it possibly can out of it. There's a clear warning about drugs that runs through, but you would be hard pushed to call this a valid morality tale which in the balance of play is a good thing. This despite being far from great is certainly worth a look for its sheer style and was at least partly worthy of the massive attention it had ladled upon it upon its release.