Limitless

This is a very neat concept for a film. It's sorta been done, but Limitless gives a brand new twist on the matter. A down and out slacker named Eddie Morra has nothing going for him except that he has a book contract. With that said, he has not written one page and his girlfriend has just dumped him for having no direction. Is it laziness or pure stupidity? Maybe a little bit of both when it all boils down. When he was given some "wonder drug" by his ex brother in law, he was curious of its potential. The pitch alone would make any man curious. Be able to use 100% of your brain. Hells ya. He takes his free sample, then poof - he is focused and recollecting knowledge he didn't know he even had. Within a couple hours he has entire chapters of his book written, and he is excited. For the first time in his life, he felt alive. He felt worthy. After that single night of clarity, he had to have more, but at $800 a pop, he could not afford it. He goes to see his Ex B-in-Law, and then he is sent on a dry cleaning errand. Eddie will kiss as much ass as necessary to get another hit. When he returns though, tragedy has struck and his B in Law is dead. Murdered. He calls the po po, and waits it out, then decides to try and find the stash. When he does, he is relieved. He now has a near endless supply. He begins with one a day and does not squander his new found talents. He makes connections, makes a lot of people a lot of money including himself, and he is finally relevant. Before he knows it, he is rubbing elbows and giving advice to the high and mighty people of the world. Unfortunately it can't last forever. Without a supplier, supply will run out, and this worries him. Without it, Eddie is still a moron. He does not retain anything he learns while using, so without it, he is a loser again. This is a film about making it big, and being the opposite of what you were destined to be. Bradley Cooper always plays suave really well, so for half of the film he is perfect. The other half, when he seems strung out, or dependent and unable to think he is even better. He did an awesome job at this role, and adding Robert De Niro to the mix doesn't hurt anything either. So, will he be able to straighten out his life without the drug, or will he die dumb and alone? There are a couple twists that I really enjoyed, but most of all, I enjoyed that we were presented a smart film with good acting. I do recommend it, and I hope Billionaire Richard Branson and his Virgin Productions can roll out more quality films in the near future.

NBM rates Limitless - Phenomenal