I caught this one at a dollar theater the other night. It's an excellent thriller.
Premise: A struggling writer obtains pills that make him into a genius at everything and he proceeds to exploit his new found talents to attain wealth.
Of course, complications arise, people come after the main character, the girlfriend disapproves, etc etc. And the ending is funny. The film also has one perfectly disgusting (but PG13-ish) scene that had the audience squirming in their seats and laughing.
The film deserves a spot in the Netflix queue. Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I liked it.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I praise the lighting director more than the rest of the movie, but that doesnt mean that I didnt like it. The premise was less interesting than how they enacted it, the flashing visuals with the differant lighting effects helped tell the story.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
I liked the movie. I was a little confused by the ending though. Was he off the drug, was he able to create one that lasted permanently, or just created a pill without the side effects? I seem to think he created a one time pill, but my wife thinks otherwise.
Here's a question:
How many of you would take a pill like the one shown in the movie, even with all of the side effects?
I honestly don't know what I would choose. On one hand I think about everything I would be able to accomplish, the other part of me would be scared to think of the consequences involved.
That and I don't know if I could feel like I actually accomplished something if it was the drug that helped me do it.
Here's another question..... If a drug like this existed but had no harmful side effects, do you think it should be distributed to everyone in the world? Why or why not?
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I think he isn't on a pill at all. I think the prolonged use of the pill actually changed him so that he's like that without the pill. That's what he essentially said at the end.
I'd take it in a hot second. And no, I wouldn't distribute it, because smart != good.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
I'd take the pill for a week out of every year. I'd write a kick ass book over the course of that week (just like he did in 4 days), make rediculous investments and whatnot, then stop so my body didn't develop some ludicrous addiction. And I would certainly never take two at a time like he did in the film.
It was a fantastic movie for what it was. I loved the premise and the ending, which left me very satisfied.
To the last question you asked, Geraine, I don't think it would get distributed to everyone. It would be like Somec in the Worthing Saga: only the elite would have it, because it would be expensive. It would ultimately further the distance between the rich and the poor.
Of course, if it was actually distributed to the entire world, we as a species would start to accomplish some awesome things, and we'd basically evolve over night into the next form of humanity, which would be amazing.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
He had enough squirelled away to synthesize a drug to ween himself off of it entirely, kinda like methadone. The drug had re-wired his brain to work much better than it did before, but by the end he was no longer taking any at all. Just like how someone who uses powerful narcotics for years but gets sober is not mentally the person they would have been had they never taken the drug, physical remapping of the brain is hard to undo.
Knowing about the side-effects, without any knowledge of how to not die without the drug... no.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Personally, my take was that he was still on the pill but bluffing the guy there at the end.
Posted by Sa'eed (Member # 12368) on :
Did the film clear up whether or not the main character committed the murder at the apartment? He was a decent guy and seemed fearful and disturbed that he might have killed someone but I don't believe the film returned to that plot thread after the lawyer got him off.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
Good question! I honestly don't remember if they did or not...
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