Thursday, March 17, 2011

Limitless and Pursuing Success: A Movie Review


Director: Neil Burger.

Writers: Leslie Dixon and Alan Glynn.

If an acid trip to the Twilight Zone is in order, Limitless explores the boundaries of neither the real nor the imagined. It looks at the human potential of what one can be. Instead of designing a super soldier, science looks to awaken the subconscious when one is hopped up on a fictional drug, NZT.

The message this film delivers about drug use borders on satire. If that is good, then the statement it makes about where humanity will go next is definitely the stuff of science fiction.

But this film is also a thriller. It explores Eddie Morra’s (Bradley Cooper) climb to fame. With the help of NZT and some dirty mob money, he becomes a financial genius in the high stakes game of the New York Stock Exchange. When his millions draws the attention of corporate mogul, Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), Morra can only see success before him.

As audiences go on his journey, Morra's narration consistently asks the question of how far one wants to go to achieve success. The answer may not be to everyone’s liking.

But in terms of expressing what Morra is going through, what director Neil Burger and cinematographer Jo Willems does with the visuals are fantastic. When one steps into the world of what Morra sees, it’s like all of his senses are bursting wide open.

There is a panoramic view of his surroundings and there is an endless camera zoom effect that can only be described as trippy. It keeps on going until the effect hits a road-block. For Morra, that’s when the mob makes its presence known. Gennady (Andrew Howard) is just as small-time as Morra. Howard is exceptional in the role; his in-character performance stands out over the other actors.

This film is essentially all about Cooper testing his star power. De Niro is mildly interesting, but it's amusing to see the little guy get all the attention.

Sadly, this subplot isn’t fully explored. When there are other story elements to incorporate, they are all sitting in their own microcosms rather than macro, and that’s where interest in the film starts to wane.

Perhaps if everything was tied together sooner than later, then this would be a more solid film. It wavers too much between universes, than to provide something coherent. But then, isn’t that what narcotics do?

Overall: 7/10

The Limitless homepage is here:

Limitless at I am Rogue

The novel from which the film is based:



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