Limitless presents a very unique idea. A drug that can alter you into a perfect person. A pill that drastically enhances your recall and consumption of knowledge, as well as your focus and motivation. You are intelligent, suave, and tactical on an almost superhuman level. How would you use such power?
Eddie Morra is first seen standing atop the balcony of his fortress apartment, preparing to jump as armed men try to break in. We see a few months earlier that he was a struggling writer, but more easily recognizable as a loser. While lamenting his writer's block and recent break up, he meets his former brother in law from a past marriage who offers him a drug that he claims will soon be on the market. He takes it, because when your life is shit you might as well get high, right? After experiencing the overwhelmingly positive effects, Eddie manages to get well stocked on the drug and soon goes about taking the world by storm. Soon Eddie is writing brilliantly and quickly, he tidies up, gets cultured, starts befriending the right people, masters mathematics and soon the stock market. With the drug, he knows all the right things to say, every angle to play, and can think his way through any situation. Of course, when your on top in a thriller you are sure to run into trouble. Eddie runs into a lot of trouble. He is stalked by a mysterious man, a ruthless Russian loan shark soon wants more than Eddie's money, and his new and powerful business partner (Robert DeNiro) in the brokerage firm is doubling as a formidable rival. Worst of all, the repeated use of the pills has fatal side effects that may be the end of Eddie. The movie soon becomes a man's fight to survive.
Limitless is a gloriously entertaining movie. With Neil Burger's unique directing style, Leslie Dixon's well crafted screenplay, and a top notch performance by Bradley Cooper, it rarely misses. Sure it could have gone further into the deeper possibilities of the drug, but it works just as well as a thriller in my opinion. The idea of science used to benefit the human mind is not as new an idea as people excited about the movie think; I was repeatedly reminded of that story Flowers for Algernon when watching it. It's like that story meets The Game. I love when a story starts off fairly simple and then, little by little, descends into the extraordinary territory. I knew I was in for a bit of a ride, but this movie does some hardcore things I wasn't expecting. One in particular near the end involving the main character's desperate need for the drug.
The drug (called NZT-48) itself is a character in the movie, the most pivotal in fact. Once the trailer went viral, a thing with commenting users was discussing whether or not they would take the drug and if they did what they would do. The drug has its downsides, that is very apparent in the movie, but then again it REALLY does open you up to limitless possibilties. Early on Eddie wonders if it was made for the anal retentive. In that case, I definitely would take it. The drug is a subtle, fascinating, and simple science fiction element. The drug doesn't really "access all of your brain" as it is said in the movie (because I guess we have access to all of our brain all the time but at different instances). The drug more accurately allows a person to perfectly recall all past memories and integrate them into your bank of knowledge, as well as increase your comprehension and consumption of new knowledge. By the end of the movie, NZT is looking pretty freaking good to the audience.
Acting time. First off, Bradley Cooper, who I liked as an actor before, nails his lead performance here and proves that he is a very talented actor who deserves the roles he's getting. He pulls off playing Eddie Morra as a procrastinating step above a bum (kinda like me), as well as the ultra smooth and sophisticated NZT version of himself (kinda like the guy everybody wants to be). Along with the drug, he sells this movie and firmly establishes himself as a leading actor. Abbie Cornish stars as Eddie's loyal and caring ex-girlfriend. Cornish is naturally good in movies it seems; as you recall, she was the only actress I really thought gave it her all in Sucker Punch. Robert DeNiro's roll is small in the movie, but he's Robert freaking DeNiro and we love seeing him in movies. I disagree with critics I admire who claim DeNiro is sleep walking through this movie, because I really enjoyed his character here. Those who are familiar with DeNiro's filmography will find it amusing when the articulate and cold-calculating Robert DeNiro we have known for decades starts looking poorly matched against the bi-winning Bradley Cooper. Andrew Howard as the loan shark Gennady was a very snake-like villain, one who goes through an intriguing evolution as the film progresses. He is always a gleefully vicious bastard. Anna Friel performs well in the small role of Eddie's tragic ex-wife, as does Johnny Whitworth as the smooth talking brother in law who introduces him to the drug. So, all around, no one is winning an academy award bu the acting was enjoyable.
I definitely urge all to see Limitless. It is just a cool as hell movie. And its smart. That was refreshing after Sucker Punch. It has suspense, drama, action, smart dialogue, cool characters, and the one drug they didn't include in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'm definitely gonna see it again. It might be one of those fun movies that I'll have to come back to often every now and then. I like to think that I don't steer you guys wrong. So go see it.
Five out of five NZT tablets. This has been a fun movie review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.
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