'Limitless' A Review

Bradley Cooper stars as a shlub who gets a hold of a drug that allows him to access and use his entire brain. The movie opens with Cooper at a bar trying to describe his book he's been attempting to write but never actually started. He has long stringy hair, a pot belly, and inexplicably a broken finger. The costuming is a little over the top, we get it he's a loser. It's also difficult for me to believe Cooper as an unattractive loser no matter what. He tries certainly but it has no ring of truth. I doubt Cooper was ever so unattractive or down on his luck. He went to the Actor's Studio for Christ sake. His girlfriend dumps him and he can't write his book.

Enter his ex-brother-in-law a former drug dealer who is now dealing NZT a genius drug. Cooper takes it and turns his life around. These are the most interesting sequences of the film. Cooper has snappy dialogue, makes interesting connections, and does things that are not humanly possible. He cleans himself up, finishes his book, and then ah ha! Discovers the stock market. After getting into the market he quickly becomes the most marketable and savvy trader around. He charms his girlfriend back and gets a meeting with energy titan Robert DeNiro.

This is where the inevitable problem comes into play. Cooper is in debt to a Russian lone shark who wants the drug and Cooper is running out of his stash. After the initial set up the movie becomes very predictable. Cooper is in over his head and the rest of the movie is him staying one step ahead of certain destruction.

The movie has an interesting concept but doesn't explore it fully. After the initial set up the movie turns into a cookie-cutter thriller. The twists and turns of the plot are predictable and have been used in any number of movies before it. There are also a lot of holes in the plot. Most blaringly there is a murder in the middle of the film used to frame Cooper but there is no explanation or resolution. It is used and abandoned so quickly that it's obvious that it's used simply to further the plot. It's almost offensive how caviler they treat the murder of a young woman. Robert DeNiro is totally under used and you wonder why he agreed to do the film in the first place. Although given his recent film choices it shouldn't be that surprising.

The most interesting thing in the film is the drug and it's effects on Cooper. There is a lot of time spent with Cooper going to parties and seducing women which doesn't really jive with someone with unforeseen intelligence not to mention it's not very interesting.

Overall I was entertained but I would never pay to watch it again. I might watch it again if it was on TBS on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Only if Shawshank wasn't on.