Limitless

 

 Limitless is one of those films where you think - it had so much potential.  

Before I get started, let's go over the plot summary shall we?  

Limitless is about a writer named Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper) who has trouble focusing on anything, especially his writing.  He can't seem to get in touch with his creativity.  One day on the street, he runs in to his ex brother-in-law who tells him about a drug that allows you to access all of your brain instead of only the proven 20% of it.  He gives Eddie a sample which completely clears out his mind and let's him multitask like nobody has before.  Things start to really take off when Eddie finds his brother-in-law dead and realizes the killers were looking for the stash of those very same pills.  Eddie finds the pills first and takes them for himself.  The movie follows his rise to success with the help of a little pill, as well as the bumps in the road, which is his lifelong addiction.  Like any addictive drug, it has its downside, which begins to unravel as the story evolves.  What do you think happens to Eddie? 

Well, I have to say, not much.           

This film is really interesting.  It starts out strong and really focused; much like the effects of the pill.  It get's to the point right away, which I liked.  The narration is well done and the music plays nicely along with the scenes.  The cinematography kept shots more visually appealing. The acting was good.  They were completely relaxed characters who gave off an 'I don't give a shit' kind of attitude. It gives you everything you think you want in this type of film; fast and edgy.

As soon as the brother-in-law dies, things get a little off beat.  When Eddie finds the pills in the oven, I find that it didn't make sense how he figured it out.  He made a joke about how his friend never cooks and suddenly it's in the oven?  Who makes a joke like that anyways when there's a dead guy right beside you?  It seemed a little too coincidental.  Actually, the word that comes to mind is silly.  But I think it was a douse of dark humour that you see again and again in the film.

The idea of the movie was fairly predictable; not being restrained by anything (as if you had all the money in the world, you could do anything).  The only difference here is, if you had all the knowledge in the world, you could do anything you wanted.  There are no boundaries or limitations.  However, they don't properly explain exactly what the pill does, other than the obvious or how it changes you as a person.  What bothered me the most was that there wasn't enough emphasis on the consequences of being in that sort of chaos.  Sure, he loses control every now and then and it freaks him out.  He loses track of time and it freaks him out.  But he doesn't dwell too long on those events.  Even when he is suspected of killing someone, he doesn't even seem remorseful.  All he worries about is himself and losing the success he's gained, even at the expense of others.  It's a very selfish sort of movie that never really gives in to its selfless side.  The only attempt there is for selflessness, is when he claims to love his girlfriend later on in the film, but still risks putting her in danger for the sake of the drugs.  

But back to a positive note.  Another idea of the film that I liked was how he was in a stuck position.  If he stopped taking the pill he would go into remission, get really sick and probably die, but, if he continues taking the drug, he'll live longer then the former, but he will be more and more prone to losing track of time and not being in control of what he is doing.  Of course, he chooses the latter, because anything's better then death.  But what I don't understand is the ending.  It has no lesson, no real conclusion.  He remains successful, he still takes the drug for his own survival, and he isn't seeming to have any downside that previously came to light.  So what was the point?  That we should make pills like this in real life?  That there are shortcuts to success?  That we really don't need to put actual hard work into anything because it won't really fulfill us?

I'm just not so sure I understand the point of the movie.  All it focused on was the "material".  There was no depth. There was no obvious lesson that I think the movie actually tried to pass on.  I think it was just trying to be a badass movie.  In that sense, some could say mission accomplished.  But in my book, not so much.

I  enjoyed the movie from start to not exact finish.  It had all the raw materials, it just needed more of the depth, of the heart.
But, alas, enjoy the idea of the limitless!  I give this film 7.3/10 for being entertaining.