Bradley Cooper: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Eddie Morra - Limitless

Limitless was a film more than likely offered to be Cooper on the back of The Hangover's success and it ended up being was the first film in which a large portion of the film-watching community took Cooper seriously. Having been mainly cast in pretty-boy, douchey roles up to this point, this was Cooper's first chance to really flex his dramatic muscles, and he didn't disappoint. Like his earlier role in Wedding Crashers, Limitless took advantage of Cooper's comfortable arrogance, which never quite made him unlikeable (the same thing that saw him cast in the A-Team remake, no doubt), only this was a more layered performance that asked more of him. The transformation of Eddie Morra is a frenetically-paced, clever and (most of all) fun ride that worked precisely because of Cooper's performance that sways violently from cocky to wounded. Limitless' premise may be silly, but it's nevertheless captivating; a collection of 'what-ifs' that Cooper does well to deliver dramatically, comedically (when necessary) and convincingly. By the time he's running for office, it's hard to remember him with a ponytail.