A clever film that plays out the possibilities of its simple mind-expanding premise

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2011)

Limitless (2011)
A sharp, twisting, wishful film, well done and intriguing. If you can throw this in with other mind-bending fantasy films with tinges of sci-fi reality like "Eternal Sunshine of the Everlasting Mind" or "Momento" you'll see both its strengths and intentions and maybe how it falls a little short of those rather startling and full-blooded films.
The idea here is simple--a pill makes you use your brain to its full capacity, so you can learn and perform at astonishing levels. But this also wears you down physically and chemically, so that you not only get hooked on increasing doses but start to have side effects. But when you are on the pills, you do things that the rest of the world notices.
So our leading man played by Bradley Cooper (normally a secondary actor) takes it on. What layers it up is the reasonable idea that you can't keep this kind of power to yourself, and some people will go to incredible extremes to have and control this power. If this sounds a bit like heroin--or maybe some kind of heroin/ecstasy/cocaine mixture that gives you the best of everything without killing you first--it should. The parallels to all kinds of illegal drugs are everywhere, promising one thing and leading to another.
There are some very nice filming techniques going on here--some tracking shots that go on for blocks in fast motion (probably contrived with CGI), some brief distortions (when the drug kicks in), and lots of careful use of filters on the lens (the world takes on a saturated golden hue when under the influence, and is otherwise believably gray). All of this sucks you in, consciously or otherwise. And the events take you one step to the next.
It's a little weird that this is all slightly un-affecting in the end, especially at the very end, when there is one last shift of trajectory that is sudden and a bit unconvincing. I didn't quite feel for the leading character so much as I was interested. One problem might actually be over-explaining the situation, and the main reason for this is voice-over narration, a lot of it. The main character keeps coming in to explain things that we kind of already knew, and certainly sensed. Or would have figured out a few minutes later, and when we get to that next scene and see what he has just explained, it's a bit dull. It's basically like repeating himself repeatedly. See? It's not necessary.
But remove the narration, or just chill out a bit and go with the flow, and you have a really good movie, pure entertainment with enough angles to keep it sailing.