A Modern-Day Jack & the Beanstalk

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2011)

The problem with making a movie about intelligence, is the lack of intelligence possessed by the people making the movie.
A modern day version of the fairy tale Jack & the Beanstalk, the hero is given some "beans" by some stranger which he "plants" unthinkingly. The beans take him to a castle in the sky where unbelievable riches are simply lying around for the taking. Hold on though--there's a giant that wants nothing more than to grind his bones to make his bread!
The parts that aren't inspired by the tale of Jack and his magic beans are the women in his life, and the anti-drug and moralistic themes that somehow lose their way as the film winds to a close. And these are what ruined the film.
Eddie's ex and current girl both try the brain-boosting drug. The ex shows the terrible effects of taking too much brain food, but at the end, conveniently limps out of his life while dispensing words of wisdom on dosage and how now, he has to keep taking the pill "or else you'll die!" His girlfriend tries the drug, pulls off some running/parkour that would impress Will Smith and Tom Cruise, but feels that, even after having, what I am assuming is superintelligent sex, that the drug is "bad." Her reason? Because it's not really you doing these things. Lame. Why do the women always have to be typecast as voices of reason? Ghosts of Christmas Past rattling chains, yet at the same time, not really giving any actual lessons.
The anti-drug message of the film, which is just that the pills have a downside: Take too much and you'll black out while fighting multiple dudes on a subway--and where all those seemingly wasted hours zoning out on action movies and youtube videos actually pays off, and you just might actually kill a supermodel. None of this hits home as the murder is never resolved, and you're taught that moderation is they key.
The biggest downer, however, is the fact that by the end of the film, the message becomes that the benefits of having full use of your brain, still does not preclude acting like a total tool. Unimaginative writing propagates the already prevalent belief that above-average intelligence is really all about making loads of money quickly and getting a lot of punani. Oh, and becoming a US senator who will screw with people on a global scale.