Superb surprise

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2011)

This film was a fantastic surprise. I watched it without knowing anything about it and it was spectacular. It was visually astounding and the plot was superb.
Reminding me slightly of Trainspotting, the film follows Eddie Morra, a down on his luck man suffering from major writers block. He bumps into his ex-wife's brother, who offers him a drug which changes his world forever. It begins with a scene from the middle of the film, whereby Eddie is standing on the edge of a building with people trying to hammer down the door behind him. It's a brilliant technique as it makes you wonder what has happened to him to build up to this point. The film just continues to get better and better.
The soundtrack and score were so well tuned (pun intended) to the film and the colours and the production of the film were outstanding and the camera shots were used to their maximum potential. The most dazzling were the shots that zoomed through the city, first used in the opening sequence and then again to show the progression of Eddie's drug-fuelled day and how the world would seem to him. The acting talent was brilliant and Bradley Cooper was never an actor that I thought highly of, he was always just an 'ok' actor. This film showed his maximum potential and he portrayed Eddie spot-on. Robert De Niro was on form and special mention must go to Johnny Whitworth, who was fantastic. There are some obvious plot flaws, such as Eddie not being searched by the police after he has raided Vernon's flat for his drugs, however this did not undo the film at all for me; I really didn't want it to end.
All in all a great (if unexpected) watch perfect for those times when you can't quite decide what it is you want to see.