Limitless

Bradley Cooper, in a leading man starring turn, plays Eddie, a down-and-out author-to-be, his life crumbling around him, and he just can't seem to get it together.   Eddie comes away with a mind-enhancing clear pill after a chance encounter with his former brother-in-law whose past featured drug dealing.  Armed with such pills, Eddie's brain power manifests itself in many positive ways, and Eddie is the best version of Eddie while on the pills.  In an effort to drum up cash, he uses his new brain power to play the stocks and goes on an impressive run, but it's not enough, so he also takes out a loan from a loan shark, who would end up showing up at the most inopportune times for Eddie.  Eddie's meteoric rise at trading stock attracts the attention of an energy tycoon, Carl (Robert De Niro), and Eddie's ever-watchful business eye impresses Carl andEddie becomes an inside player in Carl's business.

There are quite a few subplots that run throughout the film to provide obstacles and roadblocks for Eddie's ascension into successville.  Some of them are just dumb, and some do provide some tension throughout the film.  Not quite sure if film wraps up in a satisfactory way, it was oddly anticlimactic in many ways.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.