Limitless

A film set in New York. Eddie is a writer. He has a book contract and has not written a line; his girlfriend leaves and the rent is not paid. He runs into his ex-wife's brother in the street. The man gives him a clear pill and says it is a new drug. He takes it. He finishes the book in one night, discusses a point of law with his landlord's wife, and cleans the flat. From there the film is a rise. He trades, learns languages, makes money and attracts the attention of a giant investor. Then the side effects come. Lost time, headaches and hours he cannot remember; some of those who took the pill die. There are people after him. A loan shark, a lawyer and another user. What the narrative is interested in is not intelligence but addiction: the film offers the drug as an opportunity and then treats it entirely as a substance. The visual language carries the idea. Under the pill the colours warm, the camera slides forward without stopping, and letters pour from the ceiling. The ending gives no moral, which is its most argued-over feature. The source is a novel by Alan Glynn. Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish and Andrew Howard are in the cast. Neil Burger directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes fast thrillers with an idea. Who it is not for: anyone looking for scientific consistency; the narrative rests on a well-known misconception about the brain.