Limitless – 4/5 Movie Reviews by Ry!
Limitless – 4/5 – Underrated is a term thrown out into this world to describe many things that aren’t popular. You can say underrated for a musical artist, performance, playwright or anything general in life. This is a term that can also be in used for films. There are many underrated films out there. This happens to films because of when they are released, how many theaters they get into or how much marketing is used for the film. Even for all these things, what can make an underrated film succeed is word of mouth. This movie (Limitless) is one of those movies that started out slow, but because of strong word of mouth, has garnered attention for its creative plot point. Limitless is a film that had a potential to fail, but strikes gold in its underrated tag.
The movie follows Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), who is a struggling writer with a unforgiving girlfriend. One day, he comes across an experimental drug that will allow him to use 100 percent of his mind. With this new power, he evolves into a perfect version of himself. For all the good things he starts to achieve with the use of his full brain, it all starts to lead to more corruption in his life then he could ever imagine. This movie stars names such as Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. Even with a strong name like De Niro, Cooper shines on his own in the main role. He brings to life a man who is a down and out writer who is trying to find purpose in life and succeed. He brings to his performance a raw nature of human will. This persona of a person struggling and looking for anything is strongly seen on screen. His desperation shows why he starts to use the drug to help him out with his work and to save his relationship with his girlfriend. You literally see the changes from one person to another with the drug, and it’s truly remarkable. Cooper, along with the strong performance, does a wonderful job in showing a world of ‘what ifs’ if you had control of your whole brain. Other then Bradley’s main character role, the other characters are spaced out equally to prop up his story more than to stand out in front or with the main character. His girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) isn’t nothing more than a standard girlfriend you find in all typical thrillers. The same goes for Morra’s business partner Carl Van Loon (De Niro). He doesn’t stand out from the crowd of characters, and an argument can be made anyone could have taken on this role. This motion trickles down to all the side characters. Even for this usage of common characters, the overall tone of the movie isn’t brought down.
When it comes to the direction of the story, it is brilliant. There is a simplistic approach to something that could be seen as ‘chaotic’ and ‘sci-fi’ influenced. With the simplistic approach, you see a more ‘down to earth’ point of view in the usage of 100 percent brain power. You see the vital affects on a human life, as well as the downfall in using it. You also see how it can provide a way out for someone that is down on his luck, as well as how it can corrupt that same person. The filming is very fast pace for this big theme, and doesn’t give you enough time to think about the realism of that theme. What the film does do with the fast pace is gives out scenarios and consequences of the theme. It does a good job in this approach of layering one tone and one focus for the film’s constant pace. This adds a thrill and awe aspect to what will happen next.
The cinematography reflects this simplistic view. It gives you a rawness of humanity, instead of bridging something psychotic in the visuals. All things around Morra are the typical urban settings you see on an everyday basis, but it does it with a lively twist. There is color and quick shots throughout, as this topical view keeps you along with the fast pace. The score is paralleled along with this tone, but there isn’t anything here to capture emotion.
Overall, this film is a wonderful ride into the complexity of the human mind. You see something that is ironically raw and real, but entertains along the way. Very basic directing, but it is a strength because of the fast pace of the movie. Cooper gives a stellar performance among standard archetype throughout the film. Overall, this underrated movie is a strong addition to anyone’s movies collection. I hope everyone goes out and grabs this movie from your local movie stores.