Ask you doctor if NZT is right for you.

Before you take the NZT smart drug you are advised to read the small print.

The promise of unlocking your full brain potential is one thing but the possible side effects include paralysis, homicidal blackouts, brain damage, amnesia, extreme sexual impulses and coma. As the spoof advert states, “discontinued use will result in sudden death”.

Is it worth the risk? If your life is going nowhere, you may feel – what have I got to lose?

This is the reasoning of Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) in the movie Limitless.

This is a man who has ambitions of writing a book about the plight of the individual in the 21st century but so far hasn’t got past page one.

He is divorced and his latest girlfriend has just dumped him. He has no job and lives in a shabby apartment. He is, in short, a wreck. A change meeting with his former brother-in-law dealer means that he is gifted one of the clear NZT pills and the results are immediate. He is not high, or wired, just clear. He suddenly feels invincible and that he can do anything.

“Enhanced Eddie” can learn languages instantly, finish his book and win friends and influence people at will. But  he is only satisfied when moving forward at speed ;  if he stops he feels he may explode.  Eddie doesn’t use his ‘superpowers’ very imaginatively. He sets goals of making more money (on the stock markets) and entering politics – when you do anything is this really the best he can think of?

He gets a cash start-up package from a Russian loan shark who says he will literally skin him alive if he doesn’t pay him back – not a great example of focused thinking. He has the pick of eligible women but sticks returns to his sensible ex.

The premise of Neil Burger’s film is intriguing and the psychedelic visuals give a good approximation of the information overload. It’s good entertainment so long as you don’t question the underlying message too closely and don’t mind enduring a dull cameo by Robert De Niro .

But it could have been so much better.

Ultimately, the transformative effects of NZT just reminded me a lot of  The Mask, without the laughs.

A movie that might have been an effective satire or critique of our accelerated culture ends by endorsing the erroneous notion that greed is good and that personal growth and altruism are mutually exclusive concepts.