Limitless - B-

Quick Hit: A strong showing from its lead, a lack of what could have been great De Niro, and an interesting concept that can’t quite get convincingly conveyed.

How many times have we heard that humans only use something like twenty percent of their brains? I know it’s something that I’ve heard multiple times, and I’ve always wondered what I could accomplish with just a couple more percentage points (would I finally finish my novel? Could I become fluent in other languages – Hmm. More on this later). ​That’s the concept behind the movie today – 2011’s Limitless. Basically, it’s an updated version of the Faust German story – updated in the sense that it reflects modern technologies and scientific advances. The film follows Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper before he really took off to start his Oscar Nomination era) as a pretty much a deadbeat loser. He has tried, 

 a lot to get started with life. But it seems that things are leaving him behind. In a pretty forced plot device, Morra meets up with his former brother-in-law, who introduces him to NZT. Afterwards, Morra uses his newly unlocked mind powers to finally finish the novel he has been writing (like I stated I would like to do), learn a bunch of languages (like I stated I would like to do as well), and basically become Christian Bale’s The Big Short character on Wall Street.

The transformation....

Is complete!

The movie goes on to include some murder drama, some bad guys who are (of course) Russian, and Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro seems to be here only for the check, as he is underused and underdeveloped as a business tycoon. His only use is to move Eddie around to different areas and explain his use and disuse of NZT. Sad, because at times, De Niro is one of the world’s best actors.

The film has some really interesting internal dialogue from Cooper. He shows his ability to make you care about his inner thoughts, even if you don’t necessarily love the story. It seems like films like this he was beginning to learn his acting craft better, allowing himself to be seen for more than just a pretty swagger. This allowed him to eventually get with David O. Russell and go on his Best Actor Nomination Streak. Despite the good acting, the movie has tons of plot issues. Why would a genius be pushing himself into so many corners? Why wouldn’t he be thinking of the possible consequences of his actions? That is something that is truly worth looking into (Note: I guess this is based on a book, and I have reserved it from the library. I can update you on whether Dark Fields is any good or not).

My preparation phase for a blog post.

One thing that starts off good in the film but quickly devolves is the use of zoom edits (also called hyper-drive pan), and hallucinogenic-like scenes. But they get really old after being used over and over and over and over. The best films can use different effects to their advantage, but when you overuse anything, it becomes boring.

​As I’ve alluded to throughout this blog post, the movie was strangely personal to me at times. I find myself consistently returning to my ideas of writing a novel. I’ll type a few pages, get distracted, work on a blog, work out, play with my kids, etc. But rarely do I just sit down and let the ideas flow onto the page.

Me writing a blog post on a movie I like.

Language is another interest (I hesitate to declare it a passion) of mine, but after college I haven’t done anything besides read to my son a few words from My First Spanish Word Book. If I could unlock more of my brain, would I be able to accomplish some of my interests? In response to my own question, I’ll posit this:

1). First, all the research I’ve read is that the brain is recording and filtering an extraordinary amount of information at any given time. The reason that it filters out so much is that our conscious mind cannot possibly handle that much information and make choices. Some people have stated that taking hallucinogens is simply turning off some of that brain filtering ability.

2). I can’t say that with an increased brain ability that I would accomplish those things, and here’s why. I’m a person that would thirst for more knowledge. If I learned a language, I’d be dissatisfied if I didn’t learn another. If I finally took the opportunity to learn how to fence, I’d need the time to focus on practicing, and want to learn more. My problem would be simply this – I’m interested in too many things, and would never have the time in this life to learn it all – Faust indeed

What a good looking man Faust was.

I’m going to give Limitless a “B-", probably just because I liked the concept.

For more on this movie, check out IMDB.