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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Limitless - 2011

★★★


For the final four I am releasing the matchups of actors and actresses on the same day, so while I am waiting for the last few votes to come in I got the chance to see a couple of movies. One of which was Breaking Dawn: Part 1, I won't comment at the moment. The other film was Limitless, and I found it to be a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, Limitless as a film never quite reaches its potential due to a serious lack of ambition on the screenwriter and director's part. I can't help but think Neil Burger had something incredible in his hands if he had only dared to take it further, but instead he takes the simple way out with an attempt to make an extremely entertaining film. Turn off your brain and turn it back on when the movie is over. If you take this outlook going into the movie, Limitless succeeds.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a fairly intelligent man, but his dreams of being a writer are quickly diminishing. Growing tired of Eddie's ridiculous behaviour his girlfriend Lindy, (Abbie Cornish) has finally broken off their once promising relationship. Everything is now quite clear to Eddie, his future is going absolutely no where in a hurry. Until the day he runs into his previous brother-in-law walking down the street, that is. Humans can supposedly only access 20% percent of their brain, but he is here to introduce Eddie to a drug called NZT, that when taken allows a person to access the other 80%. At first he is very cautious to such a pill, but after reviewing the undeniably desperate situation he is in, Eddie takes the pill.

Vernon, (Johnny whitworth) the man responsible for showing Eddie the drug, now has Eddie at his feet doing whatever he needs. But this does not last long. Returning to Vernon's apartment from the dry cleaners, Eddie finds him murdered. Before the police get to the apartment, he is determined to find the stash of NZT so that his life can get going in the right direction, and to no surprise he does. With a seemingly unlimited amount of NZT (and intelligence) Eddie begins to feel like he is on top of the world. But then something unexpected happens, the drug begins to take a negative affect on him, and with hit men and business men knocking at his door, Eddie might not have an answer to this problem.

Neil Burger intelligently directs this very unintelligent film. Limitless has about as much visual appeal and style as any film I have seen this year. Of course there are far greater achievements a director should go for, but considering the purpose of the film he hits a home run in that category. There is nothing good about a comedy that is accidentally a drama, or a drama that is accidentally a comedy. But in the case of Limitless, Burger sets out to thrill the audience and does so very well. When that is clearly the main goal, how can you complain? Well, I can't.

I have never been a big Bradley Cooper fan, but I cannot help but be impressed with his performance here. All the pressure is on him, he has to control the screen. De Niro has not nearly enough time to actually assist in the supporting department (that was disappointing, I know) and with there basically not being a lead actress for much of the film, Cooper has to handle it all himself. Granted, Abbie Cornish does have quite a bit of screen time in the second half of the film, but for the most part it is all Cooper. I know he is not the greatest actor in the world, and movies like The A-Team really make his status go down, but in Limitless he plays his role about as good as anyone would have.

Final Word: Limitless does not have a powerful script or any intelligence to back it up, and for that it is hurt in the long run. But seriously, chill out movie lovers with your deep analytical criticism, just relax and enjoy the film, it's worth your time.



13 comments:

  1. Limitless is just a fun film, even with plotholes and such. I happily turned my brain off when I saw it! My main peeve was Abbie Cornish's character - I found her incredibly annoying. Nice review!

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  2. I thought the movie was all right, but the second half was much weaker than first. also there was way too many ridiculous scene like blood drinking or the scene with Cornish and ice skates. But the cinematography when Cooper's character takes the drug was pretty nice.

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  3. i couldn't even enjoy this movie as a fun movie. it was trying too hard to be something it wasn't ever going to be

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  4. @Ruth - Couldn't have said it better myself!

    @Sati - Lol have to agree with you about those scenes!

    @Candice! - Ah, well i'm sorry to hear that!

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  5. One could easily sit down for 10 minutes and pick apart the plot but overall, it's a decent enough flick. My main complaint is that it's not nearly as creative or daring as it should have been given the premise.

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  6. Nothing too special about this one except the fact that Cooper is very good in this role, and visually, this film is outstanding. However, I just wish the story wasn't as predictable. Good review.

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  7. I was entertained, it raised some important issues but never really discussed them. Fine review.

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  8. Good film, forgettable but fun enough. Good review!

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  9. I was so disappointed with this. I think the potential was there, and Cooper was surprisingly alright, but instead of being fun, it tried too hard to be something more complex.

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  10. @Castor - Yep, I chose to focus on the good side of the film in the review, but I think I did mention that as well, it just wasn't daring enough. The potential was there, but Burger took the easy way out.

    @Dan - Agreed. Which for entertainment, that was about all the film needed. Thanks!

    @Myerla - Hmmmm ya know, I actually never really thought of that, you're right. Thanks.

    @Pete - Exactly, thanks!

    @Sara - Oh really? i'm surprised you feel that way. I guess I felt it was a little too fun and could have tried to be something bigger! Ah well, thanks for reading!

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  11. great review Matt. I have this downloaded, and intend to watch it sometime, glad to hear its worth a viewing

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  12. Thanks Rodders, i'm glad you are going to watch it, just make sure you aren't looking for anything special and you will be good to go!

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  13. And what was that BIG thing he was striving to accomplish? Cooper's character never elaberated and nothing came of it, which was why the first half of the movie was better as it promised something sizeable. But plot focus became vain, strictly on him and the drug (eh yeah, there was something about making money, wallstreet and becoming president - empty notions). It reminded me of a visual memoir of someone with bipolar disorder, which would work for a movie with that premise, but not one that's pretentiously bigger like Limitless. For me it was disappointing.

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