Limitless Movie Review
Limitless Movie Review
Limitless (aka, The Dark Fields) - Directed by Neil Burger. Starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Abbie Cornish
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Imagine a drug that acts like steroids for your brain — or even Viagra! Everything is pumped up, fully erect, and good to go: your memory, your capacity to learn, your intellect, even your personal magnetism is off the charts when you're on this fine pharmaceutical. Things are going so well, you just know there's a downside — and sure enough, you find it when you're in withdrawals, lying on the floor, lapping a drugged and dying man's blood in hopes of getting your fix. (This is a scene quite reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro's depiction of the moment of finite vampiric desperation in Cronos.)
The man who finds himself in the most dire of straits is Eddie (Bradley Cooper, from Midnight Meat Train and Case 39), a shiftless writer who, after a chance and ultimately deadly encounter with his ex brother-in-law, gets a hold of a highly secret stash and develops a helluva habit.
The effects of "NZT" catapult the new and improved Eddie into the world of Wall Street, where he meets some shady money men (foremost is the charismatic Carl Van Loon, played by Robert De Niro) and the Russian mob (worst baddie is Gennady, played by Andrew Howard). Once his supply of the pills runs out, so too does Eddie's "brilliance" and he's in a world of trouble.
Not really a horror film (blood-slurping notwithstanding), Limitless is more a suspense-thriller that should appeal to fans of tension and adrenaline. It's directed with an artful eye by Neil Burger (whose dark magick film, The Illusionist, was covered here), and acted with admirable believability by the entire cast. While the film could have been darker on the drug addiction aspect (a bit of influence from Trainspotting or Requiem For A Dream would've worked in nicely), and it does deviate from Alan Glynn's source novel in terms of tone and a murder subplot, Limitless is still a solid white-knuckle ride.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson