Limitless... Kinda Limited

You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes OR you can take the clear pill and get a 4 digit IQ and do exactly what anyone of us would... Make lots on money, Party hard and Look sexy. Limitless was a movie I didn't think I would really go see as I suspected it would be a pretty quick flop at the box office based on what I had seen in the trailer, but with nothing better to do on a Saturday night and a free movie pass off I went.

Basic Plot:

Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star in this paranoia-fueled action/thriller/wall street tycoon movie about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a drug called NZT that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a "perfect version of himself". Eddie (Cooper) can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in hours, and see his way to anything he desires—as long as he keeps taking the drug. His amazing "talent" for making money on the stocks catch the eye of Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who invites him to help broker the largest merger in history. But with his life in jeopardy as more and more people want the drug as well as the drug’s brutal side effects, Eddie has to dance around people following him everywhere, a gangster loan-shark and an police investigation as he attempts to hang on to his dwindling supply of NZT.

Thumbs Up:

• Plot and storyline were actually not as bad as I thought it would be. The start of the movie is actually the end of the movie -kinda- and then he tells the story about how he got there (I normally hate this).
• Characters are pretty believable as average people and show what happens when a super pill makes you the smartest person on Earth. No one would go cure cancer or stop world hunger right away, we'd all go get rich, party hard and hook up with sexy people.
• I didn't have to look at Bradley Coopers 1/2 naked body for too much of the movie.
• Andrew Howard (Transformers and Band of Brothers) plays the Russian gangster/loan shark in this movie and although his role is very small and not in the movie a long time, I found his acting and presence to be great.
• The cinematography in this movie was pretty good too. The overlay of information on the shots to show what Eddie is seeing/thinking is good to see.
• The ending was pretty solid.

Thumbs Down:

• At 1 hour 45 minuets it's not too short but you all know I like my movies around 2 hours for my money.
• There is one scene where he is all out of the drug and the only way to get more into his system is... yup, you guessed it, drink the blood of a man who just took some NZT. As this part of the scene was unfolding you could hear everyone in the theater muttering the same thing "he's gonna drink the blood", and as soon as it happened nothing but laughter and "eww's" could be heard.... I laughed!
• The relationship with his girlfriend is kinda off and on in this movie and I don't mean in just the lovey-dovey way. I mean that she is around for some parts of the movie and no where to be seen in others, and then in the end she is back again.
• Would have liked to see some humanitarian things come from his new found powers and not just make it all about sleeping with models and making money....Still awesome though.
• It was pretty heavy on the wall-street side of things. I feel that playing the stocks and helping merger two big corporations is a little dull for this movie... I didn't see Shia Labeouf anywhere either.

To sum up this move was better then I expected and did indeed show what most of us would do if we gained this addiction for 100% potential. It had a decent mix of action, suspense and hit of mystery however mixing it all around the fun world of finance and the stock exchange isn't really the best use of this story. The characters are  pretty well played and somewhat believable when put into this fictional world.

If you are looking for a entertaining movie that you don't have to pick at the science or wonder why a super smart Eddie would go to a loan shark of all things for money then I suggest you check out Limitless.

3 - Stars