Review for Limitless

Eddie (Bradley Cooper) is a writer who after being dumped by his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) sinks to rock bottom. He has a book deal, but is unable to get any actual writing done. In the street he bumps into his ex-wife's brother Vernon who gives him a sample of NZT-48. This is a drug that allows him to access 100% of his brain's power. Taking the drug he finds himself incredibly perceptive, able to learn languages overnight and do amazing feats of mental abilities. He is also able to write ninety pages of his novel in one night.

When Vernon is killed by people looking for the drug, he finds the stash and starts to use it regularly. He completes his novel, borrows money off a loan shark and begins to make huge amounts of money on the stock market. This brings him to the attention of Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro) a powerful businessman who wants Eddie to help him with a merger with another company.

Eddie finds that the more he is using the drug, the more problems he is having, these include having to supply the loan shark who stole one of his pills, but then realised the potential in it. This leads to Eddie losing time and possibly having killed someone. He tries to come off the drug and this leads to serious health problems and he must decide whether he can live without the drug at all. And what effect this might have on him and his life.

Limitless is one of those films that has an excellent premise, but fails to deliver on the screen. So much so that (no kidding) the disk of this film actually broke my DVD player. This is no joke, it was almost like my DVD player gave up the ghost while watching this film and now ceases to work. It is that bad. Maybe it was punishing me for playing it in the first place.

The story, such as it is, is poorly told, characters seem to jump in and out when they are needed without any explanation, they simply pop in to deliver some exposition and then disappear. Robert De Niro is utterly wasted to the point where he really did not need to be in this film at atll. Cooper's acting ranges from blah to nothing and he is far more interesting as a down and out bum at the beginning instead of the supergenius that he becomes.

The main problem I have with the film is that feeling that you are just watching nothing. It is fine in general, moves along at a good pace and has some good moments... HOWEVER once the film has ended if you spend any time whatsoever thinking about the film you begin to poke holes in the gaping chasms of plotholes that the film has. And the more you do that the more you wonder what the big deal was.

Though it could be said that the film certainly looks good in terms of its visual style and editing, but after you've seen one weird editing gimmick you have seen them all in this film. This again is the problem with the film, it is so desperately trying to be innovative and unique that all it does is become a pale shade of something David Fincher or Darren Aronofsky would do.

Extras include a director's commentary that like most solo commentaries really needed someone to bounce ideas and thoughts off, a number of featurettes that go into the making of the film. There is also an alternative ending which is essentially the same thing apart from one or two lines that alter the ending, but not enough for it to be groundbreaking.

Limitless is a film that I would recommend only to those who use 20% of their brain to pick out a film. If you want a film that you can watch once and forget, then this is fine. If you want a film you may want to watch a few times I would steer clear of this film.