Review of Limitless (2011) by Harry W — 31 Aug 2014

With Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro headlining the film, Limitless sounded like a thriller with a great cast.

From the get go in Lawless, I was enthusiastic about the film. When I discovered what subject matter the plot entailed, I was immediately drawn into it. The concept of a human being using 100% of their brain is always a concept that fascinates me, and I liked the idea of it in Limitless because instead of it being played out as part of a science fiction or action film concept, this time it was a legitimate thriller. Admittedly, it was an imperfect film because while it had a good style and strong acting, the narrative was not consistently guided. While the film has a strong start as it uncovers a troubled writer who uses a grug to enhance his life to the max, one of the issues is the fact that it turns into such a rush after that. At first, Limitless is a fast moving and engaging story, but it gradually begins to move faster and faster until there are many moments where it gets out of hand. The issue is that the film goes into being such a rush that the narrative quickly dashes through a lot of concepts which get out of hand relatively fast and leave a few plot holes in places, making it confusing when the film asks questions but is unable to answer them. Limitless was such a rush, for better and for worse, so there were many things I liked about it yet many questions I had about the film which it was a bit too quick to answer. Limitless is a consistently engaging film and has a lot of interesting concepts, but it is such a rush because the fast pace of the thriller zooms past the eyes of the viewer. Its atmospheric because it depicts the rush that protagonist Edward "Eddie" Morra experiences in a stylish way for both the eyes and the ears of the viewers, but it is a little too much to handle at times and so there are moments where the style of the film overwhelm its intended narrative direction. Limitless has a lot of ambition, but occasionally it turns a blind eye to story in favour of style and so its intentions suffer under its execution.

But still, Limitless nevertheless stands up as entertaining. While the narrative of the film unfolds at a complicated rush, it is enjoying a lot of the time and is carried by the heft of both a strong script and some stylish direction. Everything in Limitless looks good, and it breathes a lot of atmosphere into the film which sucks viewers in and has them feeling the trippy experience that Wedward "Eddie" Morra experiences. This is achieved under Neil Burger's swift direction because he gives the film a lot of strong cinematography which takes on many atmospheric angles and is edited at a quick pace, as well as the fact that it gives the film a colour palette which is somewhat faded and therefore captures the sights and sounds of a drug experience to an extent which is subtle but nevertheless clear. Limitless has a strong atmosphere to it and the musical score of the film gives it a nice touch as well. So Limitless makes up for a lot of its narrative flaws by being a stylish affair, but also by riding the strength of a talented cast who all handle the manic energy of the film and build good characters off it.

Anyone can tell you that Bradley Cooper is the strongest actor in Limitless. He expresses his strength for playing a leading man in a legitimate and serious thriller which proves to be exciting, and he works well with the film so much that it both pays credibility to him as an actor and has him making himself the major benefit of the film. Bradley Cooper is great because of the transition he makes at the start of the film from a troubled author to a man with strict and fearless confidence. Although it goes by so quickly, it feels genuine, and from there on the energy of the film works with him to make a strong character out of Eddie Morra. Bradley Cooper is constantly dead on with his line delivery because he knows the material goes by quickly and so he captures the same level of manic energy which the atmosphere has already established. Bradely Cooper is relentlessly strong in Limitless and his sophistication and confidence enhance his charisma to a very entertaining extent.

Abbie Cornish is also terrific. As her character is the one dragged into a complicated situation, it is not that difficult for audiences to be able to sympathise for her. She maintains a sense of fear and uncertainty about the situations she forces herself into, and when her character gets onto NTZ, we see her make the same kind of transition that Bradley Cooper made. Abbie Cornish has a lot of easy dramatic charisma in Limitless and works to ensure a strong chemistry with Bradley Cooper which makes her a firm and entertaining presence.

Robert De Niro didn't get as much screen time as I had hoped which was a shame because he was one of the central reasons that I watched the film. But still, within his brief amount of time on screen he made a strong impact because the nature of his line delivery was swift and confident and he supplied a real sense of support to the film. He had the correct edge and a strong chemistry with Bradley Cooper, so his presence is a genial one.

So despite being a little undone by its massive ambition and a plot which attempts to rush over some holes, the visual style and acting in Limitless make up for the flaws in its loose ends.