A drug for people who wanted to me more anal retentive.

Rating: 6/10 (11 September 2011)

Limitless is directed by Neil Burger and adapted to screenplay by Leslie Dixon from The Dark Fields written by Alan Glynn. It stars Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro. Music is by Paul Leonard-Morgan and cinematography by Jo Willems. Plot has Cooper has a struggling writer who upon discovering a top-secret drug, finds he has enhanced his brain usage by 80%. All well and good in the beginning as his stock rises considerably and he's suddenly the in demand man, both at work and play. But success comes at a cost, and now he has others interested in the drug too
Bonkers daft of course, but still a good time to be had with it if you can forgive the gaping plot holes, the cretinous decisions made by Cooper's protagonist and a sleepy last third. Film looks real nice courtesy of Willems sci-fi alike saturated tints, while Burger shows some style with visual flourishes and nifty camera zooms. Cooper makes for a solid protagonist, and it's good to see De Niro at least showing not all his best form has deserted him. But Cornish as the girlfriend is badly underused, and Anna Friel serves only as a cameo plot device. Screenplay is a touch bold, with its morally dubious bent, but again this only leads to disappointment as the film begins to feel like an overplayed record that winds down to a finale that's rather tepid. After being asked to wait and wonder how this is going to pan out for Cooper, it just isn't the fanfare/thrill/cheek that the best parts of the film promised.
It's good fun when it's on form and a decent enough night in as a rental, but it uses only 1% of its brain whilst hardly troubling your own grey matter. 6/10