Limitless

Depending on where you read or who is trustworthy, numbers vary on how much of our brain we actually use. Some state that in one way or another we use 100% of its functions, albeit at different times, never all at once. Other reports have us using anywhere from 10-20% of our brain function.  So as 2011's Limitless brought up, what if we could utilize our brain for the amazing piece of science it really is? What if we could be functioning on a second-to-second basis, using every little ounce of intelligence, observation, and ability we have?

A struggling writer in New York City, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is given a pill -- NZT 48 --by his ex-brother in law (Johnny Whitworth) who tells him it opens up the sensors in your brain, expanding what you were previously capable of. Somewhat suspiciously, Eddie takes it and is blown away by the results. Everything begins to fall into place for him. He can remember everything he's ever seen or heard, can analyze numbers, trends, and algorithms in ways no one else can. Money and success start to roll in, and the possibilities are endless as his mind and his ability increase by leaps and bounds, even working with a huge energy company (run by Robert De Niro) with billions of dollars at stake. What is this pill though? Can he get more of them? And what are the consequences? Eddie starts to see, where there is an obvious positive there is almost always a costly negative.

Since his starring role in 2009's The Hangover, Bradley Cooper has had quite a couple of years.  He's an actor who is also a movie star, and he certainly seems destined for bigger and better things.  Cooper is a great choice to play Eddie, a pretty regular guy who's completely bottomed out on life and given this incredible opportunity to better himself...at a price of course.  As an actor, Cooper has a knack for playing a likable asshole for lack of a better description.  He's obnoxious at times, condescending and smarmy, but well...aw shucks, he seems nice still.  This character is more interesting than likable, but that's all the story needs. Eddie's narration is a quality and necessary part of the story, explaining what's happening and changing without telling us every little thing. This is Cooper's movie though, and he doesn't disappoint there. It's good to see him carry a movie on his own.

This movie had its fair share of flaws -- which I'll get to -- but overall I liked it. Limitless is a thriller that isn't built around explosions or action or violence or sex.  It is a thriller of one person stumbling into something and quickly getting in over his head. Low-key isn't the right description, but that's all I'm coming up with. Director Neil Burger has a smart, interesting and mostly well-thought out thriller. The scenes of Eddie "expanding" his brain/mind are highly stylized without being obnoxious. The negative side effects -- jumps in time, loss of short term memory -- are equally stylized, a blur of people and actions that aren't quite clear. The conspiracy theories pop up late with some twists and needless turns, but a personal thriller of one man caught up in some shady dealings is always entertaining.

Let's talk flaws because what's the fun in just slobbering all over a movie? This pill is supposed to make you freakishly smart, but then why does Eddie do so many stupid things? That is not necessarily Cooper's fault or even the character's fault.  I think it's just some lazy screen-writing, and things needing to happen for the sake of the movie moving along more than actually making sense. Eddie gets a stash of pills when the brother in law gets killed and seemingly never runs out of pills.  Oh wait, he does run out when we need a twist. Oh, and then he finds individual pills as needed going ahead. Oh, except for that hidden stash he left with his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) in her apartment. I realize the lack of pills is key to the story, but it needs to add up at some point. He increases his dosage but never seems to run out, and the original bag wasn't that big. Just saying...

There's more than that of course. In an effort to add some tension and danger to Eddie's situation, Morra does things that he just wouldn't rationally do. Investing in stocks, he's doubling and quadrupling his money almost daily, but he needs to borrow money from a stereotypically frightening and intimidating Russian loan shark? Andrew Howard does a fine job being intimidating as the loan shark by the way. Of course it doesn't make any sense, but without some sort of bad guy, Eddie will just float along figuring things out by himself. There's also a ridiculous jump in logic late when Eddie "needs" a fix. He can only get it by slurping up the blood of someone who injected themselves with the drug. Disgusting? Yes. Stupid? Yes. I'm no doctor, and I don't think that would work.

My only other complaint is the casting of Robert De Niro, still one of the coolest people to ever walk the Earth. The trailers built up his part -- surprise, surprise -- but he's really a secondary character. I wish there were better, smarter and more well-written parts than he's been offered of late. He makes the most of his appearance, and his scenes with Cooper show an easy, flowing chemistry, but there needed to be more of this screen legend.

Well, I did it again. Re-reading the review, I'm seeing how negative this sounds for a movie I genuinely enjoyed. The flaws aren't movie-breakers, but they're certainly noticeable.  All I can recommend is that what I enjoyed about Limitless outweighed what I didn't like. The ending is a little too tidy for my liking, but I suppose it works. Worth checking out.

Limitless <---trailer (2011): ***/****