First of all allow me to say that I really enjoyed watching Limitless with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. I’m not a big fan of Bradley Cooper’s. This is because I haven’t seen him in much over the years, other than the Alias television series with Jennifer Garner. The premise of the film is what drew me to it with utter fascination. What would we as a species be capable of doing if we could use more of our brain? I was curious to find out how this would be portrayed in the movie. I still remembered the different things the main characters in Phenomenon and Powder were capable of doing with the increase use of their mental ability. It was stunning to say the least.
In Limitless, down-and-out writer, Eddie Morra (Cooper), runs into his ex-brother-in-law on the streets. The guy offers him something that will change his life forever—a pill that will enable him to use 100% of his brain power. The guy usually charges clients $700 for a pill, but for Eddie it’s free. The only catch is that the pill wears off and then you have to pop another one to stay on top of things. Once you become addicted to the pill, and who wouldn’t, getting off of it produces side effects that can eventually kill you. Eddie, however, doesn’t know about this part.
Well, Eddie says to himself, “Why not?” He takes the offered pill and quickly downs it. In less than thirty minutes, his brain is working a hundred times faster than normal and he can now see the world in a much clearer light. He’s stunned to say the least about how different the world looks to him. He’s now able to see and do things he couldn’t before. Things that confuse others are now seen with clarity by him. In fact, he helps the wife of his building manager do a paper for her graduate degree in ninety minutes and is rewarded with a quick bout of sex and the promise her husband won’t hound him for the rent money. Of course, the pill wears off the next day, and Eddie finds himself in dire need to locate his ex-brother-in-law so he can get another fix. The only drawback here is that the guy’s been murdered and his apartment ransacked.
Through the careful thinking, Eddie is able to find the hidden stash that the killers weren’t, along with a sizable amount of money. You know the old saying, “It takes money to make money.” This is what Eddie quickly realizes as he uses the confiscated funds to make more money by gambling and then investing. He even writes his novel in three days and sells it. But, this is too slow for him. He instinctively realizes that he has a very short time in which to create unbelievable wealth, and it’s going to take more money than he has to do it.
Not keeping a low profile is his first mistake. Remember, his brother-in-law was murdered for the pill by someone who was aware of its capabilities. They will be on the lookout for people who suddenly come from out of nowhere with amazing abilities to make tremendous amounts of money on the stock market and through large capital investments. The second mistake Eddie makes is borrowing a large amount of money from the Russian mafia and then forgetting to pay it back. Naturally, they come looking for him and become curious as to the reasons behind his unexpected wealth and the little pills he takes.
Along this incredible journey, Eddie also meets ultra power broker, Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who gives him a shot at the big time because he’s impressed with Eddie’s ability to cut through the crap and to see the important aspects of each contract that Van Loon is negotiating on. Eddie proves himself, but he also has to keep proving himself,which creates certain problems when the pill wears off. Eddie turns to his former girlfriend, Lindy (played by Abbie Cornish), and enlists her aid in getting to his hidden stash. The problem with that is the Russian mob is already onto him, plus there’s a killer following him with evil intentions on his mind. Eddie doesn’t know if he’s going to live long enough to stay on top of the new life he’s created for himself. There’s also the problem of what he’s going to do when he finally depletes his stash of magical pills.
Like I said, I really liked this movie, but it did have its flaws. I thought Bradley Cooper was excellent as Eddie Morra. I was impressed with his acting chops, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in future projects. You could tell that Robert De Niro was having a good time with the role of Carl Van Loon, though I don’t think his character would have actually pulled the unexpected surprise at the end of the film. Abbie Cornish was great of Morra’s former girlfriend, who had his number from the very beginning, but is still willing to give him another chance.
The Special Effects was excellent in how they portrayed Eddie’s mind working once he had the pill inside of him. I think, however, had Eddie been able to use 100% of his brain’s capacity, he would have been able to do much than he actually did in the film. I’m thinking the pill only enabled him to use maybe twenty-to-thirty percent of his mind’s ability, compared the five-to-seven percent that’s normally used by the average person and the geniuses on our planet.
Also, there was a fight scene between Eddie and several thugs in a subway. Because of Eddie’s ability to remember all of the fight scenes he’d seen in movies and read about over the years, he was able to beat these violent predators. It was an impressive battle, but I know from my own training as a much younger man, that your body has to be trained to react in certain ways to an attack. Muscles have to be stretched and coordinated, and you have to know how much speed and power to use with each punch and kick so you don’t kill the other person and then find yourself arrested for murder.
Another thing I had a problem with was if Eddie was so smart, why does he keep going back to the same apartment so everybody can find him? Why does he forget to payback his loan from the Russian mafia? Considering how many people were actually using the pill, why isn’t the mass public more aware of the pill’s existence and its distinct advantages? These are silly stupid mistakes for a man who’s supposedly using a 100% of his brain and by the people who did the film. Still, that doesn’t take away from the fun of the movie, and the film is definitely fun to watch. I want to stress that. This is a fun and very interesting movie to watch. There’s a lot of food for thought here that causes viewer to ponder the infinite possibilities when a larger amount of brain capacity is induced.
The DVD has both the theatrical version and the extended version to watch on it. I would recommend the extended version. Everything makes a little more sense in the extended version, plus the ending is much better and satisfying in its resolution. The DVD also has a behind-the-scenes Making of Segment on the film and an audio commentary. You can easily rent this through Netflix or Blockbuster for a couple of bucks, and it’s certainly worth the costs in my opinion.
For me, the next two great areas of research for future scientists are the human mind and deep outer space. I feel that both are interconnected. Anyway, I love movies that explore the capacity of man’s mind and what it might be capable of doing once more areas of the brain are accessed. The potential is unlimited or limitless…like the movie says.
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