Limitless' structure may be a bit atypical, but its journey is extremely entertaining.

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2011)

Limitless' structure may be a bit atypical, but its journey is extremely entertaining.
Bradley Cooper plays Eddie, a broke and struggling writer who spends his days staring at a computer screen without accomplishing a single written word. After being dumped by the love of his life Lindy, played by Abby Cornish for basically being a loser, Eddie runs into his Ex-Brother in law Vernon dressed in some very expensive looking designer clothes.
The two decide to catch up at a bar where Vernon, feeling sorry for Eddie decides to give him a hit of the newest drug he's been peddling, NZT. NZT is apparently a drug soon to be released on the market that lets your brain work at a super human level. On NZT your deductive faculties surpass that of Sherlock Holmes and your amped learning curve allows you to learn a language simply by listening.
With nothing to lose Eddie pops the pill and in one day he is able to seduce his land lord's wife and brilliantly finish a draft to his book. After experiencing life on NZT Eddie immediately comes begging for more but before he can reach some sort of deal with Vernon Eddie finds that Vernon has been put outta the picture.
Searching Vernon's apartment he finds a stash of NZT and within days transforms himself into the smartest and most charismatic man on the planet. With these new powers Eddie decides he can the change entire world but needs money in order to do it. So he takes a loan with an very unscrupulous Russian loan shark and starts playing the stock market. Eddie does so well on the market that he entices the eyes one of the most powerful business men in the world, Carl Van Loon, played by Robert De Niro.
The rest of the movie is a thrilling adventure with numerous character all trying extract something from Cooper, whether it's his skills on the market or his access to NZT. Cooper also has to deal with some of the territory that comes with a drug habit, including dependency and side effects.
Limitless uses some very nice special effects to show the effects of NZT by playing with lens and color. When he's not on NZT the film is sucked of its color and the world becomes noticeably dimmer than the golden fast tracked life of "NZT Eddie". The sound design is also splendidly done as while on NZT the film focuses on singular sounds like the rotating of a bicycle wheel.
The plot moves extremely fast with new characters and problems appearing one after another. This breakneck speed is fun to watch, but on the other hand, if you don't keep up you're going to be asking your friends how does "that" connects to "this". The film doesn't coddle you with character dialogue blatantly explaining every connection. Nor does it give you much room to breathe and connect every single dot, most people will have to do that after the film is finished. I watched the film twice by happenstance and thoroughly enjoyed Limitless just as much if not more the 2nd go around.
Bradley Cooper is a up and coming super star and in this film you not only see that he has range but that your eyes are glued to his every move. Andrew Howard plays a really good Russian bad guy and was quiet fun to watch, even if his role leans a little stereotypical. Abbie Cornish was also fairly good. De Niro played a very good upscale businessman but I felt was under utilized. Carl Van Loon is supposed to be an intimidating veteran of the game whose experience puts him at a level capable of threatening Eddie, but he never really lives up to that role.
*Filmmakers Note - When introducing a character such as De Niro that is supposed to be "the man who owns half on New York" don't have the first shot we see of him be a wide shot of him walking up stairs. Filmmaking 101, use low angles to give characters power, use high angless to lower power.
All in all this film is a blast. Every person who's ever felt lazy and wanted to be a better version of himself - motivated, charismatic, and intelligent will love this movie. For people who've gotten there the hard way, their mindset might take issue with this film.
Who this film is not for: -Neuroscientists who cringe at the saying "we only use 10% of our brains" who also can't get beyond the sci-finess and exaggeration of the premise (it can get a little ridiculous) -Extremely moralistic people who believe there are no short cuts in this world and that if you take drugs you don't deserve anything.