Limitless (2011)

Nolan Cook
The Broadside

A film like this is a classic example of a concept and idea being golden but the execution being poorly done.

How many people would like to take a drug to be “smarter” about life’s various difficulties? I know that I probably wouldn’t mind it myself, but unfortunately this movie doesn’t really talk about that much and in the end you kind of just feel like the main character is an arrogant
fraud who uses his intellectual powers for selfish reasons.

The premise of the film is interesting and certainly could have been used to make a better movie with a better, more interesting message, but unfortunately the director uses it for a generic “feel good” movie which doesn’t even accomplish the goal of feeling good.

Synopsis:
Edward “Eddie” Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a struggling author who can’t seem to find enough creativity to finish his book. He ends up losing his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) because of it and is about to be at the end of his rope when fate steps in and he runs into his ex brother-in-law on the street.

The brother-in-law offers Morra a pill he calls “NZT” to improve his life. At first Morra is skeptical but ends up swallowing NZT regardless.

Amazingly, the pill works and Eddie finishes his book in four days. Morra starts to live the life he always wanted. However, there are side effects to NZT and that’s what most of the rest of the movie is about.

The Good:

Bradley Cooper has a lot of enthusiasm for the role. Abbie Cornish and Robert DeNiro play excellent roles as costars with Bradley Cooper. The action is fast-paced so it could (hypothetically) keep your attention.

The Bad:
The plot holes are numerous and unexplained, so at the end of the film you are left not really caring about anyone in the film, not even Bradley Cooper’s character. The film goes by very quickly in some parts, probably just to end the film in the generic two- hour Hollywood format.

The Ugly:

This film had interesting cinematography with the urban setting of the movie, but I felt like the “drug” scenes felt a little bit too much like a bad acid trip than something that was supposed to “expand” your mind. Overall, not bad cinematography but just average.

Nolan Cook can be reached at ncook@cocc.edu