User Reviews

The movie starts as a 'what if' story, turns into a mystery, and then transforms itself into a thriller.

The most interesting aspect of the film to me was its theme, namely the limitless potential of our conscious mind. Is our brain a treasure island full of hidden mental powers? At times we surprise ourselves by being able to recall a seemingly obscure fact deep in our memory vault.

Not a few things in the movie kept me on the edge of my seat: the known/unknown side effects of the drug, the shady haunting man, the powerful secret hanging by a thread, and the unpredictable story line.

The film slightly suffers from some loose ends, though. For example, it could do without the thug, and the murder at the hotel could have contributed better to the story line, if more elaborated.

I wish that the ingredients of the drug were rare and the drug itself was impossible to be recreated.

Overall, the acting was convincing and the special effects weren't distracting, but rather cleverly woven into the scenes.

Its ending was rather lame, IMHO. Why not leave us with some unanswered questions to lose sleep over? Well, I love dark endings, like the one in 'Somewhere carnal over 40 winks'.

Spoiler: The Matrix is mentioned in the movie.

The concept of Limitless is fantastic - what would happen if you could take a pill (NZT) that would allow you to use 100% of your brain (instead of the standard 20%) and function on a level higher than you have ever functioned before? The possibilities for such a movie idea are well, limitless - pun intended - but unfortunately, despite some great acting, especially by Bradley Cooper, who plays Eddie Morra - the lead whose life the movie follows throughout it's duration, the film just could not overcome some major plot holes, sloppy writing and nonsensical moments.

LOTS OF SPOILERS...

Many times throughout the film, the script uses PLOT driven storyline instead of CHARACTER driven storyline in order to go from Point A to Point B which the script called for & in the process, didn't make much sense given who the characters were in the picture. Some examples:

1) The movie needed for Eddie to find the NZT stash & money in his Brother in Law's apartment, steal it, get away with it and then take the pill, feel the effects, and use the money to regain his life. Problem? It's absolutely ridiculous to imply that the cops wouldn't have searched him or at the very least patted him down after calling in a murder & going down to the station for questioning. Of course, the huge wad of cash/pills he shoved down the back of his pants would have been found had they searched him so it didn't happen. It's illogical and absolutely ridiculous that he would be able to steal what he did from the apartment, an apartment that he locked himself in when the police initially arrived - and have no issues.

2) The movie needed for the Russian thug to come after Eddie in order to find the NZT, take it and then make trouble for him the entire movie. Problem? It's not believable that super smart Eddie wouldn't remember to pay back the 100k that he borrowed especially when the money was constantly on his mind and he had just made 2 million off of what he borrowed. This is clear cut plot driven over character driven storyline because it's ridiculous for Eddie, the character, to not remember such a basic task, especially when there was direct danger to his life if he forgot.

3) The movie needed for Atwood's lawyer to steal Eddie's stash of pills causing Eddie to spiral out. Problem? Isn't it far fetched to imply that Atwood's henchman killed the woman in the hotel to frame her murder on Eddie at the oft chance that Eddie would retain the same lawyer that worked for Atwood just so he could get close to him to steal his pills for Atwood to save Atwood's life? Huh? How did the henchman/lawyer even know that the pills would be on Eddie to take? They never used to be - the custom suit w/ hidden pocket was something new. He certainly didn't carry them on him back when the woman was initially killed. This whole setup was contrived and made no sense and was based on a lot of coincidences, ones that no one could have predicted.

That is just a few examples of sloppy storytelling. There are also a bunch of basic nit picks that I have like: 1) Why didn't Eddie, who was fearing for his life, buy a gun & train how to use it under the help of NZT? He hires bodyguards and buys a fortress to live in but doesn't purchase a handgun? 2) Why didn't the scientists who made NZT take it themselves in order to use their super smarts to perfect the drug and make it what Eddie's scientists were able to create in the end without the aid of being under the drug's influence? 3) After drinking the Russian's NZT laced blood, why did Eddie lie there on the ground waiting for the henchmen to return so he could poke one in the eye w/ a needle? Why not get out of there? Did we really need that stupid fight scene? 4)Breaking into the safe with a chainsaw in minutes? Impressive 5) Is it really believable that NZT wouldn't have hit the black market and been all over the place?

Lastly - a huge problem I had with Limitless was the happy, Hollywood, contrived Ending. Withdrawal from NZT? Side effects? Once the drug wears off so does the heightened brain activity? No problem - the movie flashes forward 12 months to give Eddie Morra a rainbows, puppies & sunshine like ending where his labs have now created a pill that works like NZT only there are no side effects and the super smart effects are permanent. How nice! He's all happy now & brilliant forever & running for Senate - he's with his girlfriend & their ordering food and look, he's fluent in a foreign language because he's so smart and YUCK. The ending was so over the top in an 'everything worked out in the end' way. I hated it. I didn't need for Eddie to die or crash and burn or anything like that but Limitless took the concept of a happy ending to another level.

Also, with the ending comes a rushed attempt to villanize De Niro's character of Carl Van Loon who out of no where makes a pathetic power play by trying to blackmail Eddie & is quickly shot down. The whole scene between them fell flat for me and felt incredibly sloppy and quickly put together.

Overall, in spite of all the shortcomings, Limitless is still a really good movie. It's thrilling, fast paced and the basic concept is interesting and makes for an entertaining film - you just can't really think about things like logic or else you will be disappointed. 7/10

***Spoilers Below*** The reason for the title is that there was no end to the ways that this movie could have been better. I enjoyed it. However, I expected much, much more. Anyone as smart as Morra was supposed to be in this movie would have made more NZT right away. Moreover, he would have never been duped into leaving the NZT with his lawyer. Also, I wasn't on NZT but knew as soon as they talked about Hank Atwood's "meteoric rise" and how "frail" he looks, that he was. Why didn't Morra?

I also thought that there would be more De Niro and fewer meaningless clips of his blackouts. This entire subplot lent nothing to the story and were easily cured by "getting sleep and remembering to eat." Also he talks about an increased dose. The drug was explained as allowing you to access 100% of your brain. Do two pills allow you to access 200% of your brain? Makes no sense to me.

Good movie. Could have been great.

Someone asked me once what I thought ADD medication does. I thought about it for a second, and replied, "In the simplest terms, it changes your mind." Sometimes, people's minds need changing. More than just a push or a boost, sometimes people need help remembering things, learning new things, making connections between things they already know, motivating themselves to use that information, etc. In the movie "Limitless", there's a pill that does all of that; and much, much, much more. The tagline for this movie is "What if a pill could make you rich and powerful?" I prefer a line from the trailer: "How many of us ever know what it is to become the perfect version of ourselves?" Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a writer who can't motivate himself to write his book even when he locks himself in a room with his laptop. He doesn't do drugs (anymore), but anyone who looked at him would swear he was always strung out. He doesn't have anything. One day, Vernon (played by Johnny Whitworth), his ex-brother-in-law who is also his ex-dealer, offers him some help: a clear, little round pill that will clear his mind. Within a minute of taking it, Eddie finds he can remember tiny things from years earlier, make connections between little bits of information that he'd never given so much as a second thought, reason with startling eloquence, and most importantly (to him), slam out ninety pages of his book in one sitting that make his publisher beg for more. Does he want more pills after all this? Absolutely. He's not the only one who wants them, though. Despite Vernon's initial claim that the pill is "FDA-approved", it's clear soon enough that this is nothing you'll ever find in a drugstore. Whoever Vernon got it from (and however he got it), Eddie'll likely never know, because Vernon is murdered shortly after he and Eddie reconnect. Eddie finds Vernon's stash of clear little pills and proceeds to make over his life. He'll need every ounce of intelligence the pills can give him, too, to fend off a ruthless loan shark, the police officer who wants to know Eddie's connection to the dead dealer, and whatever shadowy figure is following him from the moment he starts taking the pills. In the meantime, Eddie realizes he can do far more than write books with his newfound intellect. In a few short days, he makes millions on the stock market, bringing him to the attention of Carl Van Loon, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, played by Robert De Niro. Carl is more than happy to benefit from Eddie's "freak" status, and even cautions Eddie not to push himself too far. Eddie has the brains, but Carl clearly has the experience (and the resources). He warns Eddie to not try and become his competitor (read: enemy). Finally, Eddie has to deal with the drug's side effects. He has waking blackouts, often finding himself across town, in strange locations, with complete strangers and no memory of how he got there. Withdrawal symptoms are worse than your standard medication, obviously, and stopping could mean hospitalization or worse. Since he doesn't know who makes the pills or where to get more, this is his biggest problem. Or would it be worse to stay on the pills? Eddie claims they're just making him into a better version of himself, but are they, in fact, changing who he is? Do they not just change what you can do, but also what you will do? His girlfriend, played by Abbie Cornish, once had to deal with a man who wouldn't do anything; now, she has to deal with a man for whom there's nothing he wouldn't do. The end of the movie leaves the question of just how much the pills change you unanswered. Based on a novel written by Alan Glynn, this movie has plenty of action sequences to complement the moral dilemma it poses: how far will you go to become a "better" version of yourself? Like all the great science fiction movies, this thriller doesn't focus on the sci-fi aspects, choosing instead to highlight the exploration of humanity on which we embark with the very first scene. And anyone who contemplates medication to improve their lives will certainly find a resonance with the character of Eddie Morra. Watching this movie may not change your mind, but it will certainly open it.

Limitless could be named deepless as it emphasizes on the mediocre rise of a middle-class loser into the sphere of money (bliss) America. However, this movie as a deep sociological impact, in a country where inequalities are on the rise and unemployment is here to stay, thanks to globalization/technology that exacerbate the two. The movie tells you one thing; you can't succeed in America without cheating. The storyline is absolutely pathetic: self-centered and egomaniac "Bradley Cooper" is here to realize the deepest frustration of the average fellow Top Tier university student lacking of intellectual curiosity. More important than the praise of individualism that finish in apotheosis with the most corrupt and probably most egomaniac job in America (senator), there is one major flawed: Why the smartest man on earth cannot make its own NZT drugs? The filming is crucial playing the role of lowering human critical thinking by inducing pseudo artsy effects to please the wannabee hipsters. Beside, the recent trend of mainstream psychological thrillers e.g. Black Swan, Inception, is working so well for the simple reason that it makes the audience feels smart, when in fact the very opposite happens.

Limitless seems like an attempt to push Bradley Cooper out of his Romance/Comedy safe zone and into the role of future possible action star. He's built right for it too, sort of more likable Matthew McConaughey with his chiseled looks and piercing blue eyes. Limitless attempts to do for Cooper what The Bourne Identity did for Matt Damon; remake him from a pretty boy romantic lead into a gritty dark hero.

It works too, for the most part. Limitless is a fun ride all the way through and it's visually striking to boot. It opens with a steady camera zooming through Manhatten, through streets and taxi cab windows, it sets a good tone for the rest of the film.

The story centres around the myth that humans are only using a tiny portion of our brains at once. Cooper plays Edward Morra, a writer with a book contract but a terrible case of writers block. Within the first few minutes he's dumped by his girlfriend for lack of motivation in his life and runs into his ex brother-in-law, from a very brief marriage right after college. Vernon, the ex-brother-in-law is never given a last name because he's only there to introduce the main plot of the movie. He gives Morra a clear pill that he claims will give him the focus he needs to finish his book, along with his business card just in case. Being in a desperate state Morra takes the pill while being shouted at by his landlords wife for being behind on the rent. Within thirty seconds he's deducing everything around him and naturally, beds the wife and does her law school paper that she was stressing over. He then writes a massive chunk of the novel and falls asleep. The next morning he's lost his newfound mental abilities but he does have enough of a novel to hand in to his publisher along with a fantastically clean apartment, being that a side effect of the drug is OCD, apparently.

He stops by Vernons apartment to see about getting some more, but this is where things go wrong. The plot unfolds around Morra using his stash of the drug to advance quickly through the world of high finance, attracting the attention of Robert De Niro, playing a sinister Warren Beatey-type of stock market broker, while avoiding sinister figures who are after every pill they can find and are killing everyone connected to it. Also, it turns out that the drug has serious side effects if you take it regularly but will also kill you if you stop.

It's best if you don't think about the movie and just enjoy the story and stunning visual effects. There are plot holes big enough to throw Matthew McConaughey's ego through, but considering the movie is built upon a faulty premise, picking it apart defeats the purpose. It's just a fun thriller that gives you a couple hours of entertainment. It's well made, well acted and is paced about right.

There is one scene where he licks blood off the floor (because it's laced with the drug) that will absolutely kill any romantic comedy hotness Mr Cooper possessed, but I don't think that's anything but a plus. It just means we might see him expand more into action oriented roles, and if Limitless is any indication, he might just be able to swing it.

The aspirant writer Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a complete loser and has been just dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) that sees no future in their relationship. While walking back home, Eddie meets his former brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth) on the street and Vernon gives the experimental drug NZT to him to increase his creativity to write his book. Eddie uses the drug and the results are impressive, increasing his brain capability and he decides to seek out Vernon to ask for more pills. However Vernon is murdered in his apartment and Eddie calls the police, but the finds the NZT hidden in the stove with a large amount of money.

Eddie uses the drug and successfully invests the money that belonged to Vernon, calling the attention of the financial world. Then Eddie borrows US$ 100,000.00 from the dangerous criminal Gennady (Andrew Howard) to increase his own fortune, but Gennady takes one pill by force and uses it. Meanwhile, the powerful investor Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) brings Eddie to work in his team in a merging operation. But Eddie is chased by a stranger and pressed by Gennady that want the NZT, threatening his life.

"Limitless" is an original and intriguing thriller with the story of a man capable to use the full capacity of his brain. The film is full of action and developed in fast pace, with Bradley Cooper's character experiencing ups and downs while using the experimental NZT in a permanent mouse-and-cat game. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Limites" ("Limitless")

I was searching on Netflix for something I hadn't seen and passed over this title many times. I didn't think a movie about a drug would interest me much, but there wasn't much else to see so I watched this. Lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised, at least throughout MOST of it. I thought that Brad Cooper was perfectly cast, along with the entire cast in this thriller that managed to be original when I thought I'd seen it all. There were plenty of nail-biting moments at every turn. Lots of intrigue and unanswered questions that kept me wanting to know more. I'd have to watch it again to give it a fine-tooth-comb review, but there were a couple weaknesses that stood out. For one thing, I kept wondering why, after being stalked and chased by mysterious bad guys, no one ever thought to simply go to the police? It seems highly unlikely that a man wielding a knife chasing a woman through central Manhattan--even onto the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center--would not arouse the authorities or bystanders or someone to intervene. It just didn't seem plausible. Then there was the high-security apartment that he bought for $8.5 million. He shelled out all that $ for all that protection, yet the bad guys were still somehow able to break in using power tools, without the police or a concierge ever having been called? (I know, Brad Cooper took out his cell phone at this point and got a "no service" message...but still, I couldn't help but think that a pad with so much alleged security wouldn't have had a panic button or safe-room. It just seems totally implausible and therefore a plot weakness).

Nevermind that the powers obtained by taking the drug seemed Chuck-Bartowski-like. Even that I could have bought had the other plot weaknesses at least been tidied up. But they weren't.

There was room to play around with and develop the relationship between Brad Cooper and De Niro, and the ending...honestly it sucked. It was like drinking a diet coke, it just tastes wrong and doesn't satisfy at all. This movie for me fell flat because of the lame unsatisfying ending. The strong points were the action, intrigue and performances, but those elements alone can't carry a picture whose story isn't fully fleshed out. I think they forgot to finish the script. Overall, this film had a lot of promise but in the end failed to deliver. I found it disappointing because of an under-developed plot and too many questions left unanswered.

My friends recommended me this movie, but in fact what encouraged me to watch it was Bradley Cooper. I like this man. This movie worth every minute of watching. The brilliant about this movie is the story. A new way to make the mind work 100% full power. It showed us a lot of possibilities about what can be "The Full Power" of a human mind. I read about these stuff every now and then, but I didn't imagine it like that. The writer who had this idea and this scenario is genius and have a lot of imagination. And also the ways Eddy handled his problems with were very interesting and smart. I mean every problem he faced, he found a quick solution for it. At last, he managed to balance his life.

VERY AMAZING MOVIE!!!!!! 10 out of 10...............

Where to begin with this movie? The concept is interesting enough (super drug that enables all our human powers), but the execution of that idea in this movie was a total disaster.

It's an incredibly shallow story, where our main guy works his way up in the system by writing a great book whilst on these magic pills, gets involved with a silly loan shark at some point, who for some reason seem to haunt him throughout the movie. His girlfriend is involved also, and is hunted down by a man who is constantly following our protagonist, and in what is one of the movie's absolutely dumbest scenes, said girlfriend manages to escape from this guy by making a run for it (having hidden from her follower behind some trees for some time, nobody knows exactly why the follower knew she was hiding behind those 4-5 trees, he's waiting there for her for a long time, instead of simply looking behind the trees, something you would do if you suspected someone you were looking for hiding there), using a kid on skates to slash this guy down in an ice-skating rink.

Later on our man manages to achieve success and the American Dream is complete (of course). The conversations in the movie are shallow very Hollywood-esque, easy to swallow, but it doesn't really seem real.

In exploring an idea that could be very interesting, the movie doesn't really deal with or manages to show the different facets of how a brain on this drug could in fact function. We basically just see a person who is "good" at performing whatever it is he does (and the visuals of the movie sharpens or "lights up" every time he takes one of the pills), in this case, investing money and writing, and ultimately, archieves his goal - by staying on these pills. But there's no in-depth exploration of the idea, just a shallow American Dream-story, that we've seen so many times before, but a lot better told than this.

Once in a while the protagonist is a villain and most viewers just don't get it because the low moral standard. Brad Copper was handsome, charming, very smart, speaks multiple languages. However he used his newly found brain power for totally selfish reason. He showed no remorse after killing an innocent woman. At the end he wanted more power over others by running for senator. He's a pure evil.

I couldn't believe that most audiences rooting for this wicked selfish man. He robbed his dead friend without seeking revenge for him. He cheated his girlfriend with many others. He killed an woman without facing the consequences. He ratted out the lawyer and helped to kill him. Could you name one thing that he did for the benefit of others? None.

Most people can tell that Hitler was an evil man. But they can't tell that a totally selfish person without conscience has a thirst for power is a devil too.

A cautionary tale lost in your average stupid viewers.