TheUnknown837-1

23 May 2012

Limitless takes such a great idea for a motion picture and does not do a single interesting, thought-provocative, or exciting thing with it

If Alan Glynn's novel "The Dark Fields" is anything at all like"Limitless," the feature-length movie directed by Neil Burger that wasadapted from it, then I can hardly fathom why anybody thought it wasworth making into a motion picture. And if they were going to adapt it,the filmmakers should have developed the courage to rework and rethinkthe material and turn it into the sort of story that it should havebeen.The excitement before seeing "Limitless" only enhanced mydisappointment in it. It's such a great idea for a movie! What would itbe really like if a human being could access the full potential oftheir brain's capacity? Scholars have debated for years, but thegeneral consensus is that even the smartest of people can only utilizesomewhere between 10-20% of their mental power. So, according to"Limitless" and the screenplay written by Leslie Dixon, what wouldhappen if some bum novelist (Bradley Cooper) got a hold of some pillsthat allowed him to use all of his mind at the same time? Who can say,but what the movie demonstrates is the most subliminal anduninteresting details. When he takes the pill, Mr. Cooper's visionturns into a yellowish glow, he smiles a whole lot more often, speaks alot of mumbo jumbo, slicks back his hair, has sex with the landlord'swife, writes a novel in a few days, contends with a loanshark who latergets hungry for the pills, and goes to Wall Street.How anticlimactic.At a certain point, things almost start to look up for "Limitless" inwhat later turns out to be one of the lamest plot twists in recentmovie history. For a second, we're lead to believe that slicked-up Mr.Cooper might have gotten involved in some kind of a murder scheme.Well, that plot never goes any further than anything else in the movie.In other words, nowhere at all.Limply directed by Mr. Burger, "Limitless" is full of nonsensicalgibberish, cheap visual gimmicks, and a couple of hamhanded actionscenes between Mr. Cooper and the loanshark, who is stereotypicallyportrayed by Welsh actor Andrew Howard. The cast shows some talent,including Robert De Niro who looks tired and bored throughout thepicture, but there is no energy in "Limitless." It takes such anincredibly interesting premise with so many open doors (so many thatfrankly, to make a movie this dull out of it regardless of budgetrestraints is inexcusable) and yet it does not do a single interesting,thought-provoking, or exciting thing at all with it.

walkerjschwartz

22 May 2012

Visually compelling

Watched this last night and I absolutely loved it. Neil shot this filmin a such a captivating way that I never was pulled away from the storyline. Visually, very compelling. The story arc took a few turns that Ididn't completely expect and I absolutely loved the ending. BradleyCooper became Eddie Morra in this movie - completely bought in to thecharacter's transformation. My only beef would be that with it's PG13rating. I wonder if the intensity could have been turned up to 11 toreally shake the audience; I do understand having it PG13 was abusiness decision and one that I hope proves successful. I'll get theunrated BluRay when it comes out!

cadillac20

22 May 2012

Surprisingly Exciting and Thought Provoking Film

What if you could expand the limits of your mind? What if you couldremember things you thought you had forgotten, understand the world ina matter of seconds and minutes? What if you could change the worldwith this gift? Limitless presents a fascinating theory in a filmthat's frantic, exciting, and crackling with creative energy. It's notperfect, but I am very surprised to find this film as endearing as itwas. The film presents the concept of a drug that can unlock huge potentialin anyone. A person who was once lazy and unmotivated becomes adizzying ball of energy and inspiration. They become smart,sophisticate, and capable of learning anything they desire. As youmight suspect, this happens to our main character, Eddie, who goes frommooch to millionaire practically overnight. Of course, like any drug,there are side effects and the film does a good job of portraying thisnew, fast paced life Eddie achieves through this wonder drug.More than anything, Limitless is a study in artificially achievingeverything. It imagines a world where people can becomes smarter, moresophisticated, more ambitious, and more energetic without any of thework. It certainly seems harmless enough and it's a fantasy that ishard to argue with, but the films analysis of what if? is quiteinteresting. This is coupled with a top-notch performance from Cooperand some fantastic technical work makes this film a surprise. Coopercertainly does deliver a great performance, showing diversity as twopeople living in one mind separated by a chemical transformation. It'sfun to watch Cooper, especially since he's somewhat different from thecharming guy he tends to play (of which he is only charming half thetime here). Just as well, the dizzying array of camera and editing effects that, atfirst come off as too flashy, but quickly show a great relationshipwith the story at hand. They do wear a little bit, but they fit thefilm quite well. Probably the best quality of the film is it's pacing.It's relentless. 30 minutes into the film and Eddie is already a majorplayer. The film hardly slows down to take a breath before playing tugof war with Eddie. It makes the film very exciting and it hardly givesyou time to think about anything you might dislike about what you justsaw.There are issues here, however. Primarily, the second half takes a bitof a downturn. Things get a little too hectic and there are someunbelievable moments happening, particularly a certain scene in a parkthat features a fairly unbelievable turn of events. The ending alsoleaves a bit to be desired, with it ending a bit too Hollywood for me.Robert DeNiro is enjoyable, but once again, this is a role that isbeneath him. Hard to accept DeNiro playing second to Cooper, but thenit was hard to accept him playing second to Ben Stiller as well. Overall, I enjoyed Limitless. It was entertaining and thought provokingwith a relentless pace. Not perfect, nor is it even really that great,but certainly enjoyable. I'd recommend a rental.

21 May 2012

A Tantalizing View of Whats Possible

This review is from: Limitless (Unrated Extended Cut) (DVD) "Limitless" reveals to us what can happen when we achieve our full potential. In the case of the movie's protagonist, he uses an experimental drug to achieve the results. We get a glimpse of all that's possible when his mind starts to function at full capacity. However, we also get to see the negative side effects of relying on chemical enhancement. The negative side effects are the primary drivers of the drama in this movie, as well as the attempt to mitigate those effects. This establishes the crux of the whole movie: Who succeeds in the end, the man who takes the drug, or the drug itself?

18 May 2012

A Really Good Film

Limitless is a psychological thriller that has the feeling of Strange Days, The Illusionist, Pulp Fiction, and Crank; quite an odd mix of films. Limitless had a lot of style, excellent acting, and a story that I enjoyed.The film opens with an uncomfortable series of shots where the camera flows through the streets of New York City - at times the camera passes through cars and trucks, the color is highly saturated, and there is an odd repeating feel to some of the segments. The director, Neil Burger, uses this technique at exactly the right moments after Eddie takes the mind enhancing NZT drug. Eddie is seen standing on a ledge outside a modern apartment with somebody beating his door down. He is on the verge of jumping. The film then flashes back to how Eddie got there. The flashback story starts showing Eddie as a failure (he hasn't written one word of his novel), looking like a homeless person, and his girl friend breaking up with him. The film is about the effect of NZT on Eddie life and everybody around him. Bradley Cooper did a great job as Eddie Morra. He's come a long way since The Hangover. Cooper had a believable style and grace about him. Abbe Cornish is gorgeous has his girl friend. Robert DeNiro does a pretty good job as the CEO of a huge corporation. What I think made this film so good for me was the script and directing. Neil Burger directed The Illusionist, a film I enjoyed very much. He did a great job showing Eddie on the drug NZT, what his world might look like. There is a fine line trying to make drug induced euphoria look believable in a film; Burger succeeded.I watched the PG-13 version of the film. I can imagine that the R rated version is much better. There were a number of bedroom scenes that were tamed down to the PG-13 level, and would work much better at an R rated level. For parents considering watching this film with their children - this is a rough PG-13. There is a lot of violence, a lot of drug use, a character drinks blood off the floor, and some intense bedroom scenes (there is no nudity). Finally there is the message at the end of the film, I'm not sure a younger person should see this conclusion (essentially the short path is the successful path). A mature thirteen year old might be fine with this movie. It feels like the R rated version is the better choice. There were a few moments where I wondered, why did they do that? It doesn't make a lot of sense; they should have done this other thing. Mostly I could forgive those short lapses in logic; I bought into this film and the story. This was a good film. I enjoyed it very much.Strange DaysThe Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)Pulp Fiction [Blu-ray]Crank (Widescreen Edition)

Vik S

17 May 2012

Gauranteed to Exceed Your Expectations

The movie started off really weird, confusing, stupid? I dont know what the right word is. BUT when it picked up, and boy did it pick up, it was one of the better movies i've seen all year. Okay the story is a little far-fetched, but the entertainment level and cool feel to this movie will leave you extremely satisified. You gotta see it guyzzzzz!

16 May 2012

really?

I dont write many reviews but Im bored and clicked on this so here goes. If you liked this movie you severely lack intelligence. It was an interesting idea but it was so predictable and poorly written. It seemed like a really good idea for a movie was given to a retard director and the result was "limitless".

DemiRonin

16 May 2012

Limitless structure may be a bit atypical, but its journey is extremely entertaining.

Limitless' structure may be a bit atypical, but its journey isextremely entertaining. Bradley Cooper plays Eddie, a broke and struggling writer who spendshis days staring at a computer screen without accomplishing a singlewritten word. After being dumped by the love of his life Lindy, playedby Abby Cornish for basically being a loser, Eddie runs into hisEx-Brother in law Vernon dressed in some very expensive lookingdesigner clothes.The two decide to catch up at a bar where Vernon, feeling sorry forEddie decides to give him a hit of the newest drug he's been peddling,NZT. NZT is apparently a drug soon to be released on the market thatlets your brain work at a super human level. On NZT your deductivefaculties surpass that of Sherlock Holmes and your amped learning curveallows you to learn a language simply by listening. With nothing to lose Eddie pops the pill and in one day he is able toseduce his land lord's wife and brilliantly finish a draft to his book.After experiencing life on NZT Eddie immediately comes begging for morebut before he can reach some sort of deal with Vernon Eddie finds thatVernon has been put outta the picture.Searching Vernon's apartment he finds a stash of NZT and within daystransforms himself into the smartest and most charismatic man on theplanet. With these new powers Eddie decides he can the change entireworld but needs money in order to do it. So he takes a loan with anvery unscrupulous Russian loan shark and starts playing the stockmarket. Eddie does so well on the market that he entices the eyes oneof the most powerful business men in the world, Carl Van Loon, playedby Robert De Niro. The rest of the movie is a thrilling adventure with numerous characterall trying extract something from Cooper, whether it's his skills onthe market or his access to NZT. Cooper also has to deal with some ofthe territory that comes with a drug habit, including dependency andside effects. Limitless uses some very nice special effects to show the effects ofNZT by playing with lens and color. When he's not on NZT the film issucked of its color and the world becomes noticeably dimmer than thegolden fast tracked life of "NZT Eddie". The sound design is alsosplendidly done as while on NZT the film focuses on singular soundslike the rotating of a bicycle wheel. The plot moves extremely fast with new characters and problemsappearing one after another. This breakneck speed is fun to watch, buton the other hand, if you don't keep up you're going to be asking yourfriends how does "that" connects to "this". The film doesn't coddle youwith character dialogue blatantly explaining every connection. Nor doesit give you much room to breathe and connect every single dot, mostpeople will have to do that after the film is finished. I watched thefilm twice by happenstance and thoroughly enjoyed Limitless just asmuch if not more the 2nd go around.Bradley Cooper is a up and coming super star and in this film you notonly see that he has range but that your eyes are glued to his everymove. Andrew Howard plays a really good Russian bad guy and was quietfun to watch, even if his role leans a little stereotypical. AbbieCornish was also fairly good. De Niro played a very good upscalebusinessman but I felt was under utilized. Carl Van Loon is supposed tobe an intimidating veteran of the game whose experience puts him at alevel capable of threatening Eddie, but he never really lives up tothat role. *Filmmakers Note - When introducing a character such as De Niro that issupposed to be "the man who owns half on New York" don't have the firstshot we see of him be a wide shot of him walking up stairs. Filmmaking101, use low angles to give characters power, use high angless to lowerpower. All in all this film is a blast. Every person who's ever felt lazy andwanted to be a better version of himself - motivated, charismatic, andintelligent will love this movie. For people who've gotten there thehard way, their mindset might take issue with this film. Who this film is not for: -Neuroscientists who cringe at the saying "weonly use 10% of our brains" who also can't get beyond the sci-finessand exaggeration of the premise (it can get a little ridiculous)-Extremely moralistic people who believe there are no short cuts inthis world and that if you take drugs you don't deserve anything.

antoniotierno

16 May 2012

weird but funny staff

Hadn't watched other movies starring Bradley Cooper - aside from thelast version of A Team - so the lead actor's quite a a new face to mebut I reckon he never looked out of place; his acting's not phenomenalbut in this instance he has appeared to convey the exhilaration ofthese special new powers. Coneversely the good looking Abbie Cornish,playing his girlfriend, doesn't get to to put across visible emotionsas his fiancé does. Robert De Niro is cast as the great old Wall Streetmoguls, different form the criminal type he played other times but hecertainly gets to prove believable. On the whole LIMITLESS, which neversermonizes on drugs and the morality of drug created intelligence, is afresh and well-written thriller. It might not pass a logic test butlogic sometimes lacks in good movies as well. It's part fantasy andpart thriller but conceived in an ingenious way.

raisleygordon

15 May 2012

Once the plot kicks in, the movie eventually delivers on its promise

Aside from the premise, there's nothing really special about the movie.DeNiro's performance ranges somewhere between phoning it in and beingpleasant enough. Aside from making money off Eddie, I see no reason forDeNiro's character. Fortunately, the picture never takes itself tooseriously. When Eddie is about to start running off to the subway, thecamera photography shows us this vantage point. I thought this wasawesome. Not a lot goes on in the film. Our protagonist takes theso-called drug, runs afoul of bad guys, meets with a powerful tycoon,does some explaining to his girlfriend, and that's about it. If therewere a few more characters, and some suspense to it, it might be abetter movie.**1/2 out of ****

jamiemarks-1

14 May 2012

An excellent sci-fi thriller that takes you to the limit

Limitless is for me one of the most original and best sci-fi thrillersto come out in years. This tells the story of first off dishevelledwriter Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) who lounges in his small messyapartment trying to start his latest novel but unable to do as hesuffers from writers block. He is like this for weeks, which turns intomonths where his current girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) ends theirrelationship because of the way he is. By chance on the street Eddieends up running into his ex-wife's brother Vernon (Johnny Whitworth)who previously dealt in drugs but now works as a consultant for apharmaceutical company. He offers Eddie a chance to sort his life outby offering him a drug MDT that can access one hundred percent of hisbrain instead of just the normal human capacity of twenty per cent. Hetakes it and develops super-human powers where he finds he can finishhis book in a speed he never thought before. When the drug runs out inhis system, he goes back to Vernon for more but finds he's dead. Hethen takes the rest of his stash and starts living the high life ofbeing brilliant at everything like he can speak any language and is anexpert at finances and the stock market. Due to this he ends up workingfor Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro). As Eddie continues taking the drughe starts to develop problems like the drug's side effects and the facta drug dealer wants the drug to take and sell to his customers. This film really does take you to the limit with an interestingpremise. If you had a chance to take MDT to get what you wanted in lifewould you? If you wanted to do something you knew you could neverachieve and taking that drug would help you get it, would you? Thisconcept is explored well to an extent as we start to see Eddie losecontrol of himself. The thing is it would have been better if the filmhad gone further. How was MDT created? Who created it? What are it'sexact ingredients? But despite this I still absolutely loved this film.Apart from a great story as I said with an interesting premise, it isfantastically shot with some very interesting and unconventional camerashots (particular at the opening credits) which makes it refreshinglydifferent. The pace and tone of the film flew by in terms of somegripping action sequences and plot developments. This had the greatnotion for me of there never being a dull moment as it developed intounexpected directions. The script was smart and quick-whippedthroughout, the music was excellent and the acting was superbparticularly by Bradley Cooper who was really convincing in his rolewith a terrific supporting performance from De Niro and Abbie Cornishwho made the most of the little time she had on screen. I loved this film from start to finish as it was terrificallyentertaining. Originally I wasn't going to see this but I changed mymind and I'm glad I did. Limitless is the fourth best movie I have seenthis year. And I am pleased with the 7.4 IMDb rating it has received sofar though it should be higher. Saying that not everyone will like thisfilm, but I did. Just see this for yourself and make up your own mind.But for me it took me and reached it's limit.

14 May 2012

First half of movie great, second half faded .........

LIMITLESS was one of those movies I really wanted to see after I saw the previews.The premise of the film was great and insightful.The first half of the movie lived up to the expectations and set the proper tone for what this sort of experience and capability would be like.But the second half of the movie seemed like it was written by a different screenplay writer and led by a different Director.The second half of the movie really faded into a sort of comedy and all the tensions and initial build-up was lost.In the end, the film failed to fully capitalize on its initial brilliance.Add to that the fact one must overlook the obvious logic flaws in the movie .....Foe example, if this drug was able to make your mind so sharp and able to learn and master new skills like Classical Music and 3-4 foreign languages in only 2 days, would it have not seemed obvious to spend 3-4 days learning Chemistry so you could synthesize the mind enhancing drug yourself and thus not be reliant on somebody else for a supply ?A good premise and entertaining movie that did not quite reach its potential

jolinda santos

14 May 2012

remind me my dietary supplement

Oh yeah i felt like it was my life on screen. I use the naus awesomeand i feel exactly like brad without the negative effect. Good movieand remember ,your mind can be unlimited. at once i feel like the cameffects was disgusting but it recreate well the product effect. Onceyou find the supplement you need it appears obvious and you cant avoidlive with it. Don't hesitate try it,no side effect brad cooper isawesome i really like this actor and the girl she's cute,really so igive this movie a ten,no doubt.the NZT is not fake ,i got some if youwant better life just ask me .You will not have the same bad trip itstotally natural

14 May 2012

Zero Disappointment

Guy whose life is on the road to nowhere gets given a drug that fires up the brain - every scrap of information that ever came your way in life is suddenly organized and instantly accessible - anything new you want to learn is absorbed in a snap. Talk about an addicting drug! There's not a lot to the plot - it's all in how it all plays out and I don't want to give anything away.If the trailer appeals to you, then you should enjoy this movie. A solid 4-stars. (I try to reserve 5-stars for the ones that you want everyone you know to see and you yourself want to watch many times over because the characters are so endearing etc.)A very SMART movie. Good acting, good story, ZERO DISAPPOINTMENT.

Gordon-11

11 May 2012

Suspense without limits

This film is about a fiction writer whose brain power is unleashedthrough a mystery pill that his ex-wife's brother gives him. He enjoysthe phenomenal success the brain power gives him, yet endless troubleawaits without his knowledge."Limitless" has a very well written script. It is suspenseful, engagingand thrilling. It keeps me on edge throughout the film, wondering whatwill happen next, and how will the film end. The pacing is just right,and there is much excitement to keep the adrenaline going. The visualeffects of altered vision when on the drug is cool, it really gives asense of distorted perception but without crazy vertigo-inducingtricks.Bradley Cooper is very convincing as a high flier, and when the storydictates, he can look like a rock bottom junkie too. "Limitless" is agreat film that is not to be missed.

11 May 2012

Disappointing, didnt finish it.

This review is from: Limitless (Amazon Instant Video) I love the actors in this, but couldn't finish the movie. I tried twice and each time got bored. I really wanted to like it, it sounded like a good idea, but wasn't very well done in my opinion.

Jonny 99

10 May 2012

Apologies to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Unfortunately, Hollywood's original ideas ran out before the 2ndmillennium did and so we are assaulted with remakes of "The Dukes ofHazard" and "The Smurfs". With this Bradley Cooper star vehicle atleast Hollywood is cribbing from a 16th century classic producing abetter-living-through-chemistry retelling of the legend of Faust. Inthis version Satan is Big Pharma who have, for reasons onlyunderstandable to the writers, have produced a miracle smartypants drugthat they are withholding from the public. Our loser protagonist getshold of it and all hell breaks loose. On the drug, he does all mannerof immoral acts: seducing his landlady, leading a business merger,playing the stock market and running for New York state Senator. Alongthe way, he wears some nice suits and gets to mistreat Robert DeNirowho deserves so much better than the film. The film raises some seriousethical concerns, primarily, is Eddie Morra supposed to be the good guyof the piece? Is he any less guilty than those presented asantagonists? If you can get around your moral qualms, the film presentssome enjoyable effortless genius fantasies although some make absoluteno sense – how does having a "four digit IQ" make you able to do a lotof sit-ups and win fistfights? Some attractive characters and funkycamera work do help to distract if not genuinely entertain. In short,pick a film that will make you smarter.

tubal_cains

10 May 2012

Whistle and Bells but really......

It's "flowers for algernon" Don't get wrong I enjoyed it as a movie,but it is FFA. I did like Anna Friels characterisation well above herappearances in the GOAL films which were woeful.Robert de Niro was good too, isn't he always The camera effects weredifferent, but eye-straining , maybe that's just me showing my age. Forall the positives I found myself wanting to fast forward, some sceneswere just stretched more than I needed. And yet I didn't like attemptat showing his induction to the elite circle in a video fast forwardstyle. All in all there was something a bit grating about the highspeed motion scenes I never felt that I could connect with the film,the fight scene was a case in point So OK, pretty good even, not one ofthose you would buy and watch again and again, and once I got flowersfor algernon in my head it kind of went from being clever to not soclever.

johnnyventure

09 May 2012

Limitless

I have to say that this movie panders to my particular taste, which isto say it has a well crafted story for our times, good acting and justthe right blend of New York atmosphere mixed with a sci-fi feel. Theother main issue is drugs. I personally have partook in the search foran intelligence enhancing substance and it was quite believable towatch Bradley Cooper transform from a bohemian-slob to abrainiac-overacheiver. The characters were well written andthought-out. The situations were too close to home for me to ignore.The character driven story was exemplary to any current sci-fi films.The tension was akin to any good crime drama but the plot kept itteasingly interesting. Why didn't I hear of this book? Anyways,Eddie(Bradley Cooper) is trying to meet a deadline after breaking itoff with the love of his life(Abbie Cornish),and is on a downwardspiral. He runs into an ex-brother-in-law who appears to be a druggie,but is actually involved in designer drug production, and is ensnaredin a plot that leads him from the Russian Mafia to Wall Street. Thescience behind this movie is very believable and I applaud theproducers for being brave enough to bringing it to the screen

Sharad Kandoi

09 May 2012

Truly Limitless

I had very low expectation from this one, because of a friend who didnot like it much but then I was surprised, with every frame of themovie. Every shot in the movie was so much towards the final script.Loved the entire concept and Bradley Cooper for his brilliantperformance. There are moments where you believe in the script and youwant to take the pill and be cool and ,must say the director and Coopercarried the smart guy very well. Loved the idea and anything less than8 would be a shame. This was 100 mins of non-stop fun and I wasenjoying every part of it. The way the movie starts and finally how itgets connected to the plot somewhere towards the end is brilliant. ButCooper drinking blood is gross. Limitless is limitless in fun, strongscript, characters, and everything that can make a movie worth thewatch.