I admit it: As a writer and reviewer, I find that there are a couple of types of films that can always make me teeth-gnashingly envious. One is a movie with some showy bit of why-didn’t-we-think-of-that cleverness - like, say, imagining the world is a computer program, and offering that as the explanation for déjà vu and spoon bending. Another is a movie that portrays writing as effortless - the newbie hero hits nary a speed bump in becoming a literary sensation or breaking some huge story. Bradley Cooper stars in a combination of both in the addictively manic thriller “Limitless’’ (2011). Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a badly floundering novelist who starts popping an illegal brainpower-boosting drug and cranks out his next book in mere hours, then aims to conquer finance with scary Wall Streeter Robert De Niro. (The story is adapted from Irish author Alan Glynn’s book “The Dark Fields’’ - a writer filling pages by dreaming of a happy pill for writer’s block. Brilliant!) Cooper does surprising work alternating between unconfidently sketchy as a frustrated writer and “Hangover’’ smug as enhanced Eddie. (The actor’s scraggly “blocked’’ look feels like the male answer to Cameron Diaz’s “Being John Malkovich’’ frizz.) The movie also triggers “Fight Club’’ flashbacks with the different touches that director Neil Burger (“The Illusionist’’) employs to adrenalize the proceedings. Streetscapes telescope as hopped-up Eddie literally sees all the angles at once, and words drop from the air above his head as his prose flows. For this writer, it’s swell torture. Extras: Burger commentary; alternate ending. (Fox, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99)
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