Visitors Review

(2012-05-25 23:13)

Very original!

This movie is original,exciting and different. It stars Bradley Cooper(an upcomig star)as Eddie Morra a down on his luck writer, who seems not to be able to do anything right. By chance he runs into his former brother-in-law,who turns him onto this wonder drug pill that enables the mind to access 100% of it's power, instead of the normal 20%. The next thing you know he becomes a superstar on wall street, makes a a lot of money, gets some fame. But of cousre their is trouble ahead, their are some side effects to the drug,and Eddie must deal with with mobsters and others that want the pills. Their are some twists thrown in, it all turns out to be a very entertaining movie, a mix of drama,suspense and action.

Scott Lawlor (2012-05-25 09:12)

Cooper has no Limit

Limitless, directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist) and adapted from anovel by Alan Glyn, is a story of a 30 something failed writer playedby the annoyingly handsome Bradley Cooper (A-Team). Going nowhere fastwith his life, dumped by his longtime girlfriend, happens to bump intoan old friend who introduces him to a drug that can unlock the brainsfull potential. Unfortunately for our hero all this power comes with aprice, without the drug you are back worse than where you were when youstarted. Tracked by a group of killers Cooper's character must find outmore of this drugs shadowy origin.We start with Cooper on a sky scraper (I have a theme here). He isabout to jump off. End it all, and in true Hollywood fashion we arethen thrown back to where it all began.If I was to sum the movie up in a comparison, it is like Crank meetsWall Street meets the smack my b**ch up video (Prodigy). It was verysilly in parts which I quite enjoy in films. We can't always see thingsthat make us ponder the essence of our existence. One scene wheredesperate for the drug Cooper sucks up the blood of a dead villain justmade me groan with despair. In fact the final twenty minutes werepointless and didn't really need to be in the final cut.Bradley Cooper I generally like but some of his natural charm he showedin The Hangover and A Team didn't seem to be apparent here. Robert DeNiro's role in this movie almost felt like a cameo, apart from one goodclassic De Niro monologue he didn't have a great impact on the show.The directors use an infinite zoom type shot which was very clever, Ihaven't seen that done very much before and did give a sense of despairwhen Coopers character is starting to lose time on the drug.Unfortunately this clever shot is used far too often and ended upmaking me feel sick and have to turn away from the screen.All in all Limitless is fun. Nothing special, but fun. A nice conceptthat makes you wonder how many high fliers are using such anenhancement to achieve almost non human goals. It is never going to winan Oscar, but hey, who cares fun is good sometimes!!

brando647 (2012-05-25 06:15)

High Potential Film but Ultimately Feels Directionless

I was tempted to give this film a higher rating because I do think it'sbetter than your average flick. It's a decent thriller but I think myproblem is that I can't decide which of the handful of subplots issupposed to be our primary focus. The cast does a great job, but thestory seems like it's being pulled in too many directions and, by theend, I'd didn't feel like I'd gotten a satisfying enough conclusion toany of them. Bradley Cooper (THE HANGOVER films, THE A-TEAM) is given achance to headline his own film based on a novel from Irish author AlanGlynn. Cooper is an aspiring sci-fi writer who's hit rock bottom. Hecan't pay his rent and his girlfriend's leaving him. He's got a bookcontract, but he hasn't even brought himself to write a single word.Everything's looking down until his ex-brother-in-law shows up andintroduces him to miracle designer drug NZT-48. Users begin to usetheir brain to the full potential and it's not long before Eddie Morra(Cooper) is using his new mental mastery to play the stock market andact as a consultant for a major business merger, but not without makinga few enemies.LIMITLESS feels like a bunch of miniature related stories, all focusedon the character of Eddie Morra, and all rolled into one film. There'sEddie's dependence on NZT-48. If he quits it outright, he'll die likeothers before him. There is Eddie's involvement in the Van Loon/Atwoodmerger. Then there's Eddie's failing relationship with his girlfriendLindy and his involvement with Russian mobster Gennady, who hasdeveloped a taste of his own for NZT-48 and won't let Eddie cut himoff. There's enough going on here that it probably could've beendeveloped further into a possible television series. Instead he justbounces around between subplots until the end where everything is tiedup loosely. The first time I watched it, I wasn't sure which story wasto be the primary and assumed it was his involvement with businessmogul Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro). The movie's trailers certainlyseemed to paint it that way for me. Instead, the merger is justsomething going on in the background while Eddie deals with theever-growing threat of Gennady (Andrew Howard) until the eventualconfrontation. I would've preferred if the movie focused on Eddie'smeteoric rise in the business world and how he struggles to maintainhis new life while fighting to overcome the possibly fatal effects onNZT-48.I'm always a sucker for a good science fiction film, and LIMITLESS sortof falls into that category with the development of this wonder drugthat unlocks your brain's potential. I'm pretty sure the belief that weonly use 10% of our brains has been proved wrong already, but I waswilling to ignore that since the movie's premise is so appealing. Whowouldn't want a pill that can jack your brain into overdrive, turningyou into the ultimate success? I thought Cooper did a great job here,going from disorganized failure to man of the year. I wished De Nirowould've had a larger role in the film, perhaps catching on to Cooper'ssecret early and trying to play it against him. Unfortunately, we getonly a tiny bit of that in the final act of the film and it neverreally gets a chance to get off the ground. I've never read Glynn's"The Dark Fields" on which this movie was based, but the movie's mademe curious enough to pick it up in the future. There was a lot ofpotential in this movie and, while it was a fun movie, I just thoughtit didn't accomplish as much as it could've.

stuart_a_mack (2012-05-24 22:31)

A simple Faustian tale

The premise of the film is simple, what if by taking a magic pill youcould increase your brains ability to the extent that you become agenius at whatever you put your mind too? This has been explored in a lot of movies in various different ways andfollows the simple German folklore tale of Faust a man who makes a dealwith Mephistopheles (the Devil) to gain access to the divine knowledge,once the pact is made his soul is damned for eternity.That is where this film falls down, although the set up is good and thecharacters and acting interesting it doesn't really explore anythingwith any real depth. The moral ambiguities of this gift or therepercussions of using it for either personal gain or to the benefit ofmankind are never really thought of or considered. They appear aspassing thoughts with no reflection or comment.You do get to see different types of people take the drug to explorehow different people would use it, but this opportunity is lost reallyas the contrasts are broadly drawn and quickly stepped over.The central character seems to be rather one dimensional even with hisgift and strands to the narrative are simply left open or unresolved.Having said all that, if you shut down your active mind and just lookat the beautiful people and don't go looking to deep into the storywhat passes is a couple of hours of good fun, with some neat cameratechniques, amazing visuals and an interesting premise that will getyou thinking, if not really exploring the potential of the sourcematerial to the full itself.

david-sarkies (2012-05-23 23:05)

When you discover the wonder drug, you simply cannot get enough of it.

I was at my friend's house and he decided that he would put this movieon to watch. The movie didn't ring a bell, so I checked out IMDb andthe little blurb was that the main character is given superpowers aftertaking a drug. I think this is not necessarily the theme, or plot, ofthe movie, but it comes close. The reason I say this is that the maincharacter (Eddie) is an out of work writer who has just lost his highflying girlfriend, and while he is down in the dumps, an old friend(and drug dealer) of his approaches him and offers him this new wonderdrug, which he reluctantly takes.To be honest this isn't a film about superheros this is a film aboutdrugs and about how we become addicted to drugs, and when I am talkingabout drugs I am not talking about the drugs that we buy off the blackmarket, but rather about anything that we give ourselves over to as acrutch so that we may not only feel good about ourselves but to alsogive us confidence to do what otherwise we do not believe we are ableto do. Some people may call these things drugs, others will call themidols.Anyway this drug is a drug that is said to clear the mind and to enableone to become incredibly smarter. However the problem is not so muchthe drug but the supply. First of all the drug does not last forever,and as with all drugs, when the supply is removed then the come downarrives, and while when one is under the influence of the drug, theyfeel much more than themselves, when the drug begin s to wear off, theybegin to feel much less than themselves. What goes up must come down,and the higher you fly the harder you crash.Not only that, but the more drug that you have the more that you need.The body begins to become used to the drug, so when you take it, youmust then have more to get the same effect that you had when you firsthad the drug. Then there is the case when you have too much of it andyou begin to lose yourself, and you then wake up, with a hangover,wondering where you were and what you had done the night before. Thismovie explores all of these issues with this wonder drug.Obviously, there is then the final point, and that is that theexperiment breaks free of the creator. This movie, while ending withthe death of the bad guy, is all about Eddie trying to get more of thedrug. He has it the first time, and comes back for more, but his dealerhas been killed. He is lucky though because it turns out that thepeople who killed him want the drugs, but could not find it, though hedoes. While he has the drugs, everything goes fine, but things begin tofall apart once the drugs begin to run out. However, at the end, itappears that he is able to not only get more, but to be able to producemore, or so it seems. This drug does not destroy the person, but rathermakes them into something much more than they were at first, it is onlywhen the drug is removed that the self-destructive phase comes about.In many cases with the drugs that we know, it is not being under theinfluence of the drugs that creates a bad person, but rather when theyhave withdrawn from the drug and must have more. This is notnecessarily the case with alcohol, but it is the case with many of theother drugs. While on the drugs, the person is fine, but when theperson comes off and starts to have the craving for more, that is whenthe violence and the bad things happen. It is also the case that theperson has now come under the control of their supplier. They must havethe drug and the supplier has the drug, and thus there is control.Obviously some users get more violent and intimidating however it isalways the question of demand and supply, while you demand the drugfrom the supplier, whether you like it or not, the supplier has powerover you.I guess that I have now travelled around the world of drugs, and whilewe may think of things like cocaine, heroin, and other drugs, there ismore to the world of drugs (or idols) than these illegalpharmaceuticals. Drugs are little more than idols, and anything thatdominates your heart is an idol. Anything that you crave more of with adesire of fulfilment, whether it be wealth or a job or a family, is adrug, the more that we have the more we crave, and the more we cravethe more enslaved we become.

(2012-05-23 04:39)

The premise of the movie is based on a myth, but still it's amazing.

Contrary to popular belief, we humans do use virtually 100% of our brain. But if you can get past that as most people do believe we use 10% of our brain, you will enjoy this movie. Basically the point of it is, what if you became 90% smarter than you were before.Limitless is based off the 2001 book called "The Dark Fields" by Alan Glynn. The story centers around Eddie Morra(Bradley Cooper), a wannabe writer who somehow has a writing contract, yet he hasn't written one word of his expected novel, he is dumped by his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish), who as she put it was his "cleaning lady" and his "bank". So basically Eddie is a washed up bum. But then as a chance of fate, he runs into his ex brother-in-law, Vernon,(Johnny Whitworth) a drug dealer who gives him a pill nicknamed NZT that he says will enhance his creativity and cause him to use 100% of his brain. At first Eddie seems skeptical but decides to take the pill. Surprisingly the pill works, and Eddie becomes so smart he is able to write his entire novel in 4 days. Eddie comes to find Vernon to get more pills, and Vernon tells him to get his laundry and bring him breakfast first, Eddie finishes the errands and returns to Vernon's apartment to find the place torn apart and Vernon murdered. Knowing whoever done this must have been looking for Vernon's stash, Eddie searches all over and finally finds the pill and some cash inside the oven.With his huge supply of pills and some starting capital, Eddie is able to find secret formulas in the stock market and make a ton of cash in just a few days. A big investor, Carl Van Loon,(Robert De Niro) becomes very interested in him. Eddie feels he is on top of the world, but there are still some problems. The drug is highly addictive and if he stops taking it he realizes he loses his intelligence and he becomes very sick. The drug has strange side effects such as loss of time, and black outs. Also, a strange man keeps following him, and even tries to kill his girlfriend when she has the pills on her to bring to Eddie when he is suffering from NZT withdrawal.As the movie progresses, Eddie has to deal with all the people that want his drug, and he has to keep finding ways to get more. He discovers billionaire investors that made all their money because of this incredible drug. He pays scientists to figure out the ingredients and make more, so that he has a limitless supply to support is limitless intelligence. This movie caught my attention because of the idea that you could be so incredibly smart that you could become the richest person on the planet, the president of the United States, every woman would want you, the possibilities would be limitless(hence the name, but everything comes at a price, and at the end of the day it would a drug you were taking, and we all know the consequences of drugs. I'm now interested in reading the novel which I may review next. But if you haven't seen this movie yet you're in for a real treat.

(2012-05-23 07:59)

A movie you can watch more than once

This review is from: Limitless (Unrated Extended Cut) (DVD) I saw this movie in theaters and thought it was good so I bought it for my Dad's Birthday. I liked it the first time and I liked it the second time, and I would probably watch it again. Edward is going no where fast with his writing career until he runs into his ex-wife's brother who gives him a pill that gives him full access to his brain. The short term effects are great for Edward he's motivated, smart, and gets rich quick...however, like with any drug there are consequences. The action in this movie keeps you entertained and the plot twists are great.I did watch the alternate ending and I am definitely glad that's what it was, "the alternate" because the real moving ending was much better.

(2012-05-22 19:00)

Soulless copout

So disappointed--seemed like so many people gave this high marks. Bradley Cooper does a great job acting, but the rest is just some tiresome, and rather humdrum, absolutely non-mind-bending stuff. The part about him now being able to access 100% of his brain is actually a very small part of the movie--he gets smart, can do cool things, and things are looking up, and then....nothing. That's it. A little action, no twist, no nothing. The movie ends incredibly boringly and makes you feel like you went through all the rambling storytelling to get absolutely nowhere.

pc95 (2012-05-22 00:49)

Fun Drug-Trippy Fantasy

Directed by Neil Burger, "Limitless" offers fast pacing and solidentertainment for it's runtime. It is slickly edited and delves intothe drug-world adeptly. (spoiler) It is chiefly a fantasy, but Ithought the characters and thus storytellers fell pretty short increating worthwhile goals given the kinds of powers they werein-stating or describing. (spoiler) The Bradley Cooper character canuse huge amounts of his brain power, but what does he use it for?Running for the US Presidency, and his own selfish purposes(?)....that's a bit shallow. Anyway while I thought the filmmakersthematically could've made better endpoints, their cast and directionis a glossy fun picture with excellent cues, great narration, andquick-witted dialog. Overall Recommended.

thekyles99 (2012-05-21 17:28)

Im starting to take a liking to Bradley Cooper!

An original script is what i have been craving Hollyweird to producefor quite sometime. In "Limitless" they have succeeded. Bradley Cooperwho i have been taking a real shine too ever since first seeing him in" The Wedding Crashers" plays starving author Eddie Morra who whilsttaking a walk in between his bouts with writer's block bumps into hisex-brother in law they go for a drink together to do some catching up.After listening to Eddies troubling world he slides over a small baggycontaining one pill as to which he advises Eddie that if taken insteadof the normal 20% of his brain any human being normally uses on anygiven day he will in fact be able to use all 100% of it. Eddie leavesthe bar looking at the pill and figures what has he got to lose anddowns it. Before we know it Eddie has changed from a derelict to AlbertEinstein in the midst of his Landlord's evil girlfriend virtuallylaying into him verbally. He totally feels awake and renewed and smartas a whip. This leads us down the path with him as his life takes anincredible upswing. Just remember though what comes up must also comedown. Several people from different types of employment are now chasingEddie for this wonder drug. I thought this was a breath if fresh air aslike i said earlier in this review that Hollyweird in my eyes had growninto a stalemate of sorts. Director Neil Burger who last brought us2006's " The Illusionist " regroups himself to give us this ever soexcellent thriller.

(2012-05-19 19:44)

Cool movie!

This review is from: Limitless (Unrated Extended Cut + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) The main thing I like about Limitless is that it wasn't predictable and it has great replay value. The movie is entertaining, exciting, tot at all boring or typical of the slew of "cookie-cutter" movies that are a dime a dozen these days. I definately agree with the synopsis of it being this year's sleeper. The tunnel vision effect might annoy some momentarily but it's a minor quibble. Watch this. It's worth my money and I'm glad I bought the blu-ray.

Newt Rox (2012-05-19 13:34)

Entertaining, funny

** SPOILERS BELOW **I like the idea, as Vernon implied ("NZT works better if you're alreadysmart"), that Eddy was somewhat smart without NZT. Eddy studied in auniversity, his Ex and girlfriends were smart. He figured out that inVern's immaculate stove might be where Vern hid his stash when the copswere on the way (tho it was dumb to call them before looking)."Limitless" is a light fiction thriller, with large doses of comedy,and is not a Sci-Fi film, per se, so I don't see the need to haveempirical proof of the basic premise of the film -- we only access 10%of our brains -- any more than one would dismiss out of hand all filmsinvolving time travel because most present-day time travel concepts arebased on negative matter. There are more standard plot flaws than "science" flaws:• Who'd ever give a perennially writer-blocked writer an advance? • Whydid the NZT stashes never deplete? • And how does accessing memorycells enhance physical performance? • Just remembering a few Bruce Leemoves will empower you to beat up six big attackers? And his gaining superb numbers skills was a stretch too. What, Eddy, ina half-ass foray into liberal arts, suddenly has brain cells from whichto harvest fast, intense skills needed to glance at multiple numbersand project stock trends at the trader level? During what part of hisartsy, writing career was this part of his brain cultivated? And whydoes the rising star trader Eddy need to borrow a mere $100 thousand?And from tough, Russian mobsters? And then forget to repay it? And if Van Loon's competitor had already been using NZT, wouldn't hehave already outfoxed Van Loon before running out of his supply?I would have liked a more credible ending than the "altered synapses"explanation of Eddy's still possessing remnants of NZT, with its "bugs"worked out. As one commercial critic wrote, the ending itself couldhave used a little NZT.At this crucial point in the twist, we're wondering if Eddy's stillusing NZT. Then his Super Vision and crystal ball spots a textingdriver who will cause a collision, and he also accesses portions in hismemory that taught him to make a clinical internal medicine diagnosis,based on grabbing DeNiro's gut. I've seen too many B-grade flicks withDeNiro underutilized in almost tongue-in-cheek roles to expect miraclesor credibility in most of them anyhow. But I thought DeNiro was asfunny and likable as usual. Though a sort of Just Say No subtext grated, I enjoyed Old SageDeniro's lecture about Designer Smarts not being equal to time in thetrenches in the grander scheme of the corporate arena. The plot flaws didn't bother me -- least of all the "10% myth." Anddespite this films many other flaws, I was entertained. And intriguedabout the notion of getting laid through super-smarts. One of thefunnier parts was Eddy sweet-talking the landlord's bitchy but comelywife Valerie into the sack. I enjoy the Jason Bourne spy-type of rapid assimilation skills -- MattDamon, 30 seconds after entering a diner, has assessed the weight andfighting prowess of everyone in the diner -- and whether they haveweapons. I'd like to see a serious film based on the same premise. Ah, but isn'tit nice to dream in the current economy?

(2012-05-18 15:28)

Good movie! Surprisingly better than expected...

This review is from: Limitless (Unrated Extended Cut + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) I haven't seen Bradley Cooper in too many movies but he's not a bad actor. He's believable. Anyhow, I saw this movie in the theaters and was simply impressed because I guess I didn't have high hopes for this movie. Now I'm reading the original book and it's really good. Very original, good subject, but the writing in the book isn't great. Either way, the movie gets 4 stars for keeping me quite entertained and impressed at the end of the theatrical release. The book so far gets 3.5 stars even though I'm half way through it... the writing just isn't good...

(2012-05-18 09:03)

Excellent acting and direction

This review is from: Limitless (Amazon Instant Video) I had not really heard much about this movie and was glad that I looked it up. No wonder it did well. The lead in this is excellent. I am not one to give a formal review, but if you read the synopsis, take that and add some intrigue, action and some excellent twists, you have it.Very good, watched it twice and would recommend to friends and family.

oshkosh_101 (2012-05-17 22:51)

Unfocused and 2D Characters with Some Decent Parts

Limitless seems to be limited on conveying its purpose to the audience.The film wanders around unsure of where to go, but ends up beingnothing special. It certainly had potential with its concept but endsup being a typical rise and fall movie of a drug addict where he sortof rises again at the end. The film is mostly a watered down version ofthe film Pi with some drug thrown in so it wouldn't cross the line ofplagiarism. I really don't know why De Niro was cast in this film ashis role could have been played by virtually any other decent actor.Yeah I said it. De Niro barely adds anything to this movie. Obviously,the only reason De Niro was in this was to increase the film's revenue.There really isn't much to say about the plot except that it'sbasically what you would except and nothing extremely surprisinghappens. I admit I was consistently paying attention throughout themovie and wasn't ever truly bored. However, this film is just so...bland. The only point of it seems to make a few bucks. Not to mention,the characters also seem rather indistinct and 2D with no notableperformances. Very little development. The film's pacing is also quiteslow. Despite having a rather typical running length it seems to go1.5x as much as it actually is. They also throw in some random baldingguy who just tries to kill Eddie and his girlfriend just so youwouldn't fall off from the edge of your seat from falling asleep.There's really nothing memorable about this movie with the exception ofthe somewhat intense confrontation scene towards the end, with thosestereotypical Russian guys. However, there's one flaw with that scene.You WOULD THINK with such an extremely expensive security system therewould be an alarm of any sort but nope. Even with NZT, he forgot tocheck if it came with an alarm. Writers of this movie: take some NZT orat least proofread your scripts.There are some questionable visual effects that seem to be there justfor the sake of having them. Initially, I thought the drug's effect wasseeing in a sepia tone and a wide angle lens. But seriously, was itreally necessary to add random words that appear around the room as heis typing? Also, there's this godawful zoom in that appears a few timesin the movie gave me a headache. I guess they're trying to be creativebut it doesn't really work. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky on theeffects, but theses ones are borderline artsy-fartsy or wankery withoutany taste. The soundtrack is also nothing noteworthy. From what I'veheard, it just seems like your typical electronic music that will fitthe mood but is just there for the sake of it.If you have nothing to do on a Friday night and you feel like you mustsee a movie just for the sake of seeing a movie, then by all means gosee this one. Otherwise, I think my time is better spent watching DeNiro in his prime instead of him just jumping into any film he can.Click "not helpful" on my review all you want, in a year or two theIMDb rating for this movie will plummet. The people who genuinely thinkthis movie has a purpose besides mindless entertainment to it shouldpop some NZT in their mouth to be able to see why it isn't that good.

(2012-05-17 04:20)

Good movie! Surprisingly better than expected...

This review is from: Limitless (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) I haven't seen Bradley Cooper in too many movies but he's not a bad actor. He's believable. Anyhow, I saw this movie in the theaters and was simply impressed because I guess I didn't have high hopes for this movie. Now I'm reading the original book and it's really good. Very original, good subject, but the writing in the book isn't great. Either way, the movie gets 4 stars for keeping me quite entertained and impressed at the end of the theatrical release. The book so far gets 3.5 stars even though I'm half way through it... the writing just isn't good...

(2012-05-16 22:36)

Great actor, great film!

This review is from: Limitless (Unrated Extended Cut) (DVD) With such a "high concept" story, this one could have gone either way. Luckily, the filmmakers pulled it off. This was a very enjoyable movie, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD. Bradley Cooper is a legit star now, and there's no question he can carry a film.

kcgeorgeloo (2012-05-16 03:42)

Bradley Cooper stars as Eddie Morra, a stunted writer whose girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) breaks up with him.

Bradley Cooper stars as Eddie Morra, a stunted writer whose girlfriendLindy (Abbie Cornish) breaks up with him.The feelings of frustration soon flood in. When he bumps into hisex-brother-in-law, Vernon, who is in pharmaceutical sales, he quicklylearns of a simple pill he can take that will increase his brain'sfunctionality from a normal 20 percent to a freakishly productive 100percent. But this pill, called NZT, turns out to be anything butsimple. Within the first half hour of taking the first NZT, Eddiewrites the first 40 pages of his lackluster book. Then the next day, heturns it in to his publisher who demands more pages from him by the endof the week.For consistency he had to live by the pill. Ijust like the wholestoryline, great movie i will say.

secondtake (2012-05-15 22:56)

A clever film that plays out the possibilities of its simple mind-expanding premise

Limitless (2011)A sharp, twisting, wishful film, well done and intriguing. If you canthrow this in with other mind-bending fantasy films with tinges ofsci-fi reality like "Eternal Sunshine of the Everlasting Mind" or"Momento" you'll see both its strengths and intentions and maybe how itfalls a little short of those rather startling and full-blooded films.The idea here is simple--a pill makes you use your brain to its fullcapacity, so you can learn and perform at astonishing levels. But thisalso wears you down physically and chemically, so that you not only gethooked on increasing doses but start to have side effects. But when youare on the pills, you do things that the rest of the world notices.So our leading man played by Bradley Cooper (normally a secondaryactor) takes it on. What layers it up is the reasonable idea that youcan't keep this kind of power to yourself, and some people will go toincredible extremes to have and control this power. If this sounds abit like heroin--or maybe some kind of heroin/ecstasy/cocaine mixturethat gives you the best of everything without killing you first--itshould. The parallels to all kinds of illegal drugs are everywhere,promising one thing and leading to another.There are some very nice filming techniques going on here--sometracking shots that go on for blocks in fast motion (probably contrivedwith CGI), some brief distortions (when the drug kicks in), and lots ofcareful use of filters on the lens (the world takes on a saturatedgolden hue when under the influence, and is otherwise believably gray).All of this sucks you in, consciously or otherwise. And the events takeyou one step to the next.It's a little weird that this is all slightly un-affecting in the end,especially at the very end, when there is one last shift of trajectorythat is sudden and a bit unconvincing. I didn't quite feel for theleading character so much as I was interested. One problem mightactually be over-explaining the situation, and the main reason for thisis voice-over narration, a lot of it. The main character keeps comingin to explain things that we kind of already knew, and certainlysensed. Or would have figured out a few minutes later, and when we getto that next scene and see what he has just explained, it's a bit dull.It's basically like repeating himself repeatedly. See? It's notnecessary.But remove the narration, or just chill out a bit and go with the flow,and you have a really good movie, pure entertainment with enough anglesto keep it sailing.

(2012-05-15 12:49)

Drugs and Danger

Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro in the same film? That got my interest. And a premise about a human with limitless abilities? Also intriguing, though I worried it would turn into a spinoff of the recent flood of superhero movies. Instead, "Limitless" is more down-to-earth and more layered.Cooper's character is an author with a book contract, but no ability or discipline to focus that talent. He is losing sleep, relationships, and peace. When he bumps into his former brother-in-law on the streets of New York, that all changes. He is introduced to a new drug, and soon he is flying high on the new energy and focus it gives him, allowing him to access the full potential of brain--but at a cost. If he stops taking the drug, he gets sick and discovers that even death could result. More immediately, though, there are others after this illegal substance and the effects it can produce.Mixing stylistic elements of "Fight Club" and story elements of "Wall Street," this movie spins off into its own interesting take on the limits of the human mind and its potential for danger. It also comes across as a veiled expose of the prescription drug industry. Don't get me wrong, though. "Limitless" is not a message movie, at least not overtly. Overall, it's a very entertaining, somewhat thought-provoking, and ultimately violent tale of the good and evil that await us in a society where access to all sorts of drugs becomes "Limitless."