Outer limits – Anytime a new genre is created to categorize your film, you’re in trouble. So, while I would like to get on board with the genre ‘techno-thriller,’ I really have no idea what that means. Being a electronica music fan, I would like to think of techno as a type of music, but that really has no baring here, so to mix it in with ‘thriller’ makes no sense. So, if that is what is supposed to describe a film like “Limitless,” let’s all hope no other project’s get green-lit underneath the ‘techno-thriller’ genre.
What’s it about? Believe it or not, I still don’t completely understand this story, but I do know it follows a NYC writer by the name of Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) who among other things has a bad case of writer’s block. So bad, in fact, that he missed his deadline without even writing a single word. So, to say Eddie was down on his luck would be an understatement, which is why losing his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) was the last thing he needed. Next thing Eddie knew, he was in a tailspin hoping to find some inspiration to get his life back on track. It was then, he ran into his former brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth), a high-end drug dealer. The two have a drink together and Vernon offers Eddie a new pill dubbed NZT, which wasn’t even out on the market yet. Eddie reluctantly takes the pill and because he really had nothing else going on, he swallowed it. Within minutes, Eddie regained all the focus he had lost months prior and began to feel like a new man. After finishing his book in three days, Eddie was ready to live his life the way it was meant to be lived, on medication. But, not every big risk creates a reward, as the longer Eddie took NZT, the crazier everything became around him leading to a conclusion that was mediocre at best.
Who was in it? It’s a shame when Robert De Niro can’t even get top billing for a film, but maybe that’s a clue that he should not have been in it.Fact is, I could have easily done without De Niro, as nothing about his character was memorable thanks to the poorly penned script by Leslie Dixon. Sure, De Niro made the most of what was given to him, but outside of needing a paycheck, I don’t know why he would ever agree to be in this film. Same could almost be said for Abbie Cornish, who thanks to ridiculous dialogue was never able to make an impact within the cluster that was this story. Again, maybe I would feel different had I read the novel, but nothing this unorganized should be on the big screen, plain and simple. So, it’s a good thing Bradley Cooper was cast as the lead, as without him, this film would have never made it this far. Cooper brought that natural charm and swagger to this role, which was very much needed and fun to watch. I just wish there would have been more of him, as you were all too often left with the surrounding chaos that seemed to smother this film from within.
Confused direction – Outside some really cool visuals of the camera moving in and out of NYC at a furious pace, this film fell apart at the seams. And really, it all started with the script adapted by Leslie Dixon who’s biggest claim to fame might be “Mrs. Doubtfire.” One would think a screenwriter who has been around since the late eighties would be able to do a little more, but that just wasn’t the case here. Because let’s face it, no one read the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn in which this film is based off, so I won’t pretend to let Leslie Dixon off the hook with her lackluster effort with the screenplay. That along with the poor direction by Neil Burger helped this film go from intriguing to worthless in no time at all. That’s a shame, as the potential for a story like this is almost limitless (no pun intended), so for Dixon and especially Burger not to realize that is pitiful. Sure, it was set-up well, but the way it was all laid out and filmed was a tad bit amateur. And when a iconic vet like Robert De Niro is walking around the set, that just will never work, so the producers should have know better than to allow this film to make it this far.
Bottom Line – The good thing about a film like “Limitless” is that no one will be going to see it anyway. The bad thing about a film like “Limitless” is that no one will be going to see it. Either way, this film was destined to fail, so for the writer and director to then throw in some sort of climatic ending with a strange twist was a bad move, considering how little you care about the characters by then. So, while it might have some intelligence to it, with no validity behind that intelligence, it falls way short of any expectations.
D
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