The Trailer for Limitless Wants Us to Believe Bradley Cooper is a Dirty Writer

Here's a Hollywood truism for Dec. 16: No matter how stringy the wig you put on Bradley Cooper looks, he's still Bradley Cooper. Translation: He's really good looking! Yet the trailer for Limitless would have us believe that Cooper was a dingy old writer (with John Cusack's wig from Being John Malkovich) and that only some crazypants clear pill -- which has some deadly side effects, as we've learned -- could make him look like "Bradley Cooper." Riiiiight.

Truthfully, this is a welcome variation on The Ugly Duckling scenario (TM pending), if only because Hollywood usually reserves it for stars like Lea Michele, who is constantly told on Glee that she isn't hot. (Ahem.)

Anyway, we're getting off track. Limitless Fame, fortune, penthouses and tanning await Mr. Cooper, but so too does Robert De Niro's shady businessman. Is he a bad guy? You bet! (You can tell because De Niro is in sleep walking mode.)

Meanwhile, a bigger question: What's with the use of Kanye West's "Power" at the end of this thing? Just because The Social Network got away with that, doesn't mean you can, Limitless! Yet, with all that said, this looks like it will at least be worth a click to the top of the Netflix queue. Or at least a perusal of the IMDb user boards to find out how exactly Limitless ends.

VERDICT: Passable.