Fascinating Premise, Unsatisfactory Ending

Rating: 6/10 (26 March 2011)

Eddie Morro is a down-and-out writer. He can't write a single word to start his book. His girlfriend has left him. One day, his drug-dealing ex-brother-in-law lets him in on a clear little tablet he called NZT. When Eddie takes this tablet, his mind miraculously starts to work at a level he had never known before. Finishing his book in no time is just the tip of the iceberg. As his mind's capacity is limitless, so was his personal and financial success.
But of course, there is no such thing as a perfect drug. As his body experiences the physical side effects, his life seemed like it was also careening into a violent crash. Can Eddie stop the vortex into his own self-destruction? Or can there be something good that comes out of all this?
Bradley Cooper, with all his alpha-male screen presence, was not really convincing as Unsuccessful Eddie. But when he transforms into Successful Eddie, he really goes to town with his confident portrayal. This movie was practically a one-man show for Cooper. Abbie Cornish (as Eddie's girlfriend Lindy) and Robert De Niro (as Eddie's boss Van Loon) were not really that material to the plot.
The movie had a fascinating premise as NZT was supposed to open up all the corners of our mind. The director had a very imaginative way of executing this idea for the big screen. The special effects done for this were very good. However, because the drug was supposed to make your mind work one hundred percent, sometimes you will wonder why Eddie still gets himself into all these stupid problematic situations. You would think he would have foreseen all possible scenarios before he decides to do something.
Ironically then, you need to tell your own mind not to over-think when watching this movie. It is practically a morality tale about drug addiction and its evils. I did not really like the way it ended. There were so many ways the movie could have gone at the end, but the one they chose did not satisfy me at all.