Bradley Cooper brings charisma to leading role; film remains mediocre
Whether they need a focus booster or just want to feel trippy, students are taking them.
"Limitless" doesn't exactly pass as a "just say no to drugs" type of story, but it does offer an interesting premise about being able to access the full potential of the human brain instead of the usual ten percent.
"Limitless," adapted from Alan Glynn's novel "The Dark Fields," is intriguing, with a charismatic performance from Bradley Cooper, but it is also senseless. It refuses to live up to its title name since the potential of its premise is wasted with a story that takes irrelevant turns and refuses to make any sense. The only way the movie can pass as thrilling is if audiences completely ignore its many leaps in logic.
At the start of the flashback that forms the majority of the film, Bradley Cooper stars as Edward Morra, a man who reaches his limit as a struggling writer. He unexpectedly runs into his former brother-in-law who offers him an untested drug called NZT, which allows Morra to access 100 percent of his brain. Under the influence of the drug, Morra can remember everything he has ever read, solve any complex equation and fascinate anyone.
The potential that "Limitless" presents becomes limited once Morra takes a change in career from writing to Wall Street. He attracts the attention of Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), who seeks Morra's help to broker the largest merger in corporate history. He also receives the attention of people trying to get their hands on the NZT. Of course, as with any untested drug, the side effects of the NZT begin to take effect as Morra tries to fight off gangsters, stalkers and a police investigation.
The idea of accessing the inaccessible within the human brain would make for an interesting movie premise, but the screenplay takes the story in an unbalanced direction. Instead of exploring Morra's status as an aspiring writer, the story takes an illogical turn into the world of Wall Street corruption and Russian gangsters. A more logical approach to the story would be Morra using his newfound knowledge to write a best seller every month.
Once the world of Wall Street is entered within the story, the script is filled with loads of economic vocabulary that makes the dialogue somewhat hard to follow.
The story also contains a few plot holes — most having to do with Morra making plenty of mistakes despite him becoming the smartest man in the world. While the entire story itself takes a turn that doesn't follow up, the ending especially feels blatantly cheap, and that completely contradicts one of the movie's underlining messages.
Despite all that is wasted, "Limitless" still manages to provide enough thrills with its effects than trailers make it seem. Thanks to cinematographer Jo Williams' inventive visual plan, the film contains an adequate amount of visual panache and seems to be overly fond of hyperdrive pans, psychedelic montages and rapid rack-focus shifts.
Bradley Cooper manages to provide his character with plenty of on-screen charisma, proving to his doubters that he can hold his own in a leading role, especially when he is starring opposite of Hollywood juggernaut Robert De Niro. Abbie Cornish's performance doesn't help the film much as she is basically cast just to look pretty. Her character dumps Morra when he is a failed writer and falls for him again when he becomes a rich, successful Wall Street man.
The most frustrating thing about "Limitless" is that it should have been better. The film may be about accessing 100 percent of the human mind, but it seems that the makers didn't use much of theirs.