LIMITLESS

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How long will it be before Big Pharma comes up with a smart-pill that enables human beings to tap into the full capacity of their underused brains?

Such is the premise of "Limitless," based on Alan Glynn's novel about a drug that enables the user to exploit every bit of his or her mental potential.

"Limitless" is a speedy thrill ride beginning with its virtuosic opening sequence.

Bradley Cooper plays habitual underachiever Eddie Morra. Eddie is about to blow the deadline on a manuscript he hasn't been writing. His girlfriend leaves him.

Eddie's luck changes when he bumps into the drug-dealing brother of an old flame, who slips Eddie a dose of something called NZT. Eddie finishes his book in a flash. He returns to his new best friend for more NZT. Eddie isn't the only one coming after his dealer, but he is the only one who finds his stash. Only with repeated doses can the user maintain his newfound mental capacity. Withdrawal symptoms are bad news and chronic users have a short lifespan.

The movie strikes an ecstatic chord of sci-fi premonition. Forays into super-violence go over the top, in a good way. Wall Street is the highest mountain for Eddie to climb. He sees heretofore unpredictable economic trends broken down into the algorithmic patterns.

The audience finds itself in the hub of the drama when Eddie tries to team up with mega-mogul Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro). As you'd imagine, the kingpin role isn't much of a stretch for De Niro; he fits it like Kate Moss in a cat suit."Limitless" isn't a perfect sci-fi thriller. But it gives you a fleeting sense of what it might be like to really be the smartest person in the world.

Rated PG-13. 105 mins.