Writer's block is one of the worst mental blocks any ordinary person can suffer (I should know), not being able to succeed, motivate yourself and generally get on in life can be a debilitating experience. Limitless tells the story of Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper; The Hangover, The A-Team) who's an aspiring writer but just needs one more day to get his head together then he'll get writing (much like I felt before writing this review). However there are of course differences between Eddie Morra and myself; firstly, I'm better looking (you'll have to trust me on this one for those who don't know me in person) and Eddie Morra has come across a wonder drug that's about to change his life (not a pill popper myself).
As soon as Eddie takes NZT (the wonder drug in question) he starts to change his life, he cleans his apartment, he writes his book in 4 days and he becomes a sociable, friendly, outgoing, charismatic guy. But such a wondrous drug couldn't have side effects...could it? Leaving spoilers aside, Eddie's life (both personal and literal) take a turn for the worse and as any good drug related movie should, it shows the bad side of becoming addicted to a drug. Some may call it a metaphor for power, confidence or just plain luck but as the movie continues the audience is shown exactly the depths of what is at stake.
Neil Burger (The Illusionist) has clearly been influenced by the impact visual tricks can have on an audience and so he use fast tracking zooms and fish eye lenses whenever he can to tell the audience what Eddie is seeing. All in all the way Eddie sees the world according to the director isn't all that pleasing and somewhat disorientating, but very stylish. Particular influences that I think may stick out like a sore thumb for most David Fincher fans is Fight Club. David Fincher has been an influential director based around his diverse range of movies and storytelling however to just pick on one in particular to me seems a bit limited (see what I did there) in vision. The pacing of the movie feels a little unusual as well, there is a first person narrative cut into the movie, particularly at the start, somewhat like Fight Club but the pace doesn't really get there fast enough. It just feels like the audience is watching a man on a drug having a great time for most of the movie but they're not allowed (maybe thankfully) to join in and I think the movie falls down on this aspect.
Lindy (Abbie Cornish; Suckerpunch, Legends of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole) is Eddie's long suffering girlfriend and plays the role adequately (after all it's just a girlfriend role) but does get to show off her 'terrified' face to show she still has a range (best use of an ice skating girl in a movie this year). Also Robert De Niro appears as probably the most unlikely financial genius/cameo you're likely to see this year, but it's generally good to see him (unless you saw Meet The Little Fockers, oh how they sink so low).
Bradley Cooper's fist solo vehicle really puts the pressure on the actor to carry a film and unfortunately in my opinion he doesn't really pull it off as a dramatic actor. In comedy he's fine but I just think that to show somebody going through such a physical and mental change then there may have been better choices. For example when you see him at the start of the movie he looks like he doesn't dress well, wash himself or even bother to get a decent haircut and for those who know Bradley Cooper's Hollywood persona then you may have little sympathy for him, especially when he gets a haircut, washes and starts dressing well and generally starts looking and acting like the Bradley Cooper we all know. As a downbeat loser with nothing to live for he just isn't very convincing.
It's nice to see a science fiction based drama that isn't all about special effects and aliens so Limitless makes a nice change to the genre. What with movies like Inception and Source Code coming out there does seem to be a shift (however minor) in letting audiences decide for themselves how the story is evolving. Limitless does try this, it certainly doesn't end the way you may think it would and asks more questions than it answers, but in a sci-fi popcorn movie maybe it should think about what it is actually saying before it speaks to its audience.
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