Compelling viewing ...

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2011)

Directed by NEIL BURGER (The Illusionist), LIMITLESS is a fast-paced thriller that tells the story of hopeful, but failed writer Eddie Morra (played by BRADLEY COOPER) – who, during a chance meeting, discovers a new drug NZT48 that expands his minds capacity (from the usual 20%) so much he can use his brain up to 100% with much greater efficiency
Eddie then starts on a rapid upward spiral in everything he does – succeeding at all tasks that he puts his mind to
Pretty soon Eddie realizes that the drug is starting to change everything about himself – and he realizes that he has become "super focused" and has a "total recall" of everything he has ever read, seen or done, an ability that he uses very successfully to his profitable advantage  and business tycoon Carl Van Loon (ROBERT DE NIRO – The godfather, Raging Bull) is quick to recognise Eddie as the ultimate money making machine
But, not everything goes well  and soon after suffering from some of the drug's side-effects, and the realization of his growing dependency on his "fix"  Eddie decides to find out more about where the drug comes from – meanwhile, Eddie's success is getting noticed in some very seedy quarters by mobsters who also want part of the action
After seeing BRADLEY COOPER in The A-Team, and the Hangover (both fairly effortless / "passable" movies – with little thinking required), I wasn't expecting much from him in this film  but, as it turned out I was very impressed  it has a good plot, is thought-provoking and has plenty of twists and turns (akin to Usual Suspects / Memento) to surprise the audience along the way  I think it is Cooper's best film so far  which bodes well because he is in pretty much every scene of this film – and in some scenes there is even more than one of him in the scene!
Top marks should go to the script which was very well written, the direction very well paced and structured, the camera work and visual effects were excellent, the music also builds up the tension nicely in this finely crafted thriller.
Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are convincing in their roles, and they were ably supported by a fine supporting cast – specific mentions go to ABBIE CORNISH (Bright Star) as Lindy, ANNA FRIEL (The Street, Bathory) as the brief ex-wife Melissa, ANDREW HOWARD – as the very convincing "baddie" Gennady, and JOHNNY WHITWORTH as the ex Brother-in-Law Vernon.
I noticed from the credits that Bradley Cooper was one of the Producers of LIMITLESS, so he is really putting his money where his mouth is  and in this instance, I believe he has made a very wise investment  and I would expect LIMITLESS to do very well at the box-office  I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the biggest grossing films this year
LIMITLESS is 105 mins long, is a PG-13 certificate and will be on UK general release from 23rd March 2011