March Movie #3: Limitless

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish
Directed By: Neil Burger
Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Limitless is about a writer named Eddie Morra (played by Cooper) who is suffering from writer's block, whose girlfriend has just left him, and whose life is falling apart. His life changes after he runs into his ex-brother-in-law, who also happens to be an upscale drug dealer, and is given a funky new drug. While most people only use 10% of their brain, this drug allows you to use 90% of it. Eddie finishes his novel in just a few days, learns several languages, and conquers the stock market while under the influence. His newfound clarity opens doors to new opportunities and new people.

This movie has probably the worst opening scene ever. I think it was supposed to be suspensful and powerful but it was flat, boring, and a little annoying. The voice-over was flat, there was no allure to the text or grab. The pounding in the background was distracting and annoying.

The next couple of scenes also didn't pull me into this movie. I absolutely hated the comic book style in-your-face depictions of what the drug was doing to Eddie. Eddie takes the pill and an X-Ray image of him swallowing the pill floods the screen followed by cartoonish animated renderings highlighting a part of his brain being stimulated by the drug. I did like the quick cut shots of Eddie's brain calculating the scene before him in order to analyze and react to his landlord's wife yelling at him. But then when illuminated letters started dropping all over the room as Eddie typed his novel, I was annoyed again. To over the top. To in your face. We get that this drug enhances his thinking. We get that it makes him super human.

Thankfully the movie rallies into full swing and the comic book style renderings and explanations stop.

I liked that Eddie pulled himself together. I liked that he made something of himself. I did not like that he made such a spectical of himself. He knew someone was looking for the drug. Surely his actions would call attention to himself, put a spotlight on his suspicious rise. And in the end, I thought he would lay low, particularly given all that happened to him and the love of his life. I was disappointed with how far he took it, that he didn't just call it good and fade away. And it really bothered me that his one ambition in life just became a footnote to him. I'm sure he had outgrown his calling and was trying to move up, out, and onto "better" things. It seemed to me that he was abandoning who he truly was. His girlfriend had a point. The drug made him someone else. Not a better person. Someone else.

I guess I did like that Eddie learned something - not the languages he taught himself or the art of reading people or how to construct an algorithm to overtake the stock market - but how to survive. Others before him were not able to make that leap, the leap that could have saved them. But while he did something none before him were able to do, that cocky attitude was off-putting. He seemed so likeable, frizzy hair and all, in the beginning. Where did that cocky attitude come from? All of his success didn't come from within - it came from a pill. That alone should have been enough to humble him.

I hated the ending almost as much as I hated the opening. It ended with a fizzle, with no gotcha, no redeeming moment, no wow. It needed wow to get me to love it. It was an every day moment and then it ended. No climax. Nothing leading up to the ending. No happy wrapped up ending. It just ended. Some movies cut to black with a pow. Some cut to white with an air of mystery. This one figuratively cut to grey. Eh.

I'm not sure if I liked this movie. It was okay. I didn't leave wowed. I didn't leave annoyed or confused or angry or even sad. I probably won't remember much about this movie in a couple of months. It's worth seeing. It was well done (once the comic book graphics stopped popping up). It was well acted. It was an interesting and unique plot. It was well told. It was just missing that something extra. I could have really loved it. So close.