Limitless

Limitless takes the headlines about American students who have been enhancing their exam performance with drugs and turns them into a slickly enjoyable thriller. Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a mess, a wannabe writer and congenital slacker who is going nowhere until he takes a pill that gives him both incredible smarts and an enviable smart-but-casual wardrobe. After dashing off his novel he enters the world of high finance to make his fortune. However, he quickly learns of the drug's sinister side-effects and of others who will do anything to get hold of his supply.

Cooper nicely captures the blankness of a man who is suddenly given absolute wisdom without having to work for it, while De Niro provides some heavyweight support as the Wall St. mogul who employs him. The film carefully keeps within the parameters of its conceit, although there is a nagging sense that such a high-functioning drug addict would be a little more careful with his stash. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]