This is the best drug film I have seen in a while. While it is quite entertaining, it ultimately fails to satisfy in the final reel as it devolves from a cautionary tale into a happy ending for the drug-taking protagonist. The message of the movie becomes take a pill, become successful. Would it were that easy. The drug in question, NZT, which sounds dangerously close to AZT, creates an effect on the brain where the user can remember any and everything he ever read or has been exposed to and can instantly organize and access the information. The user can now use 100% of her brain instead of the "normal" 20% we usually can access. The drug creates a startling focus and uber ability on the part of the user. The special effects were done quite well, creating the illusion of a drug trip resembling a cross between a meth induced high and an LSD excursion. The down sides to the drug were well documented and most people who have been on the drug are either burned out or dead. Eddy finally finds a way to maintain. This is where the film finally loses me. Up to that point it maintains a certain integrity to the material and I could suspend disbelieve long enough to buy what the storytellers were selling, but at the end, it all falls away and I lose my thrall. De Niro is totally wasted. I give it, six Bells.
