Limitless 2011

The problem with these kinds of "intelligence boost" plots is that usually despite the fact that the protagonist can suddenly do all manner of crazy stuff because they're super smart, like remember everything they ever read or calculate the outcome of any action and decide on the one most likely to succeed, they still somehow forget / don't think of the most basic shit. For instance, if I was suddenly extremely intelligent and also very well aware of the fact that this was only due to a drug I need to take daily, the very first thing that I would do is make sure my supply is, well, limitless. I'm not even taking the drug and I got stressed out every time I saw him reach into his pill box without thinking about how he would get more.
Or, how about the fact that he has absolutely no idea what is in this drug and how it might be affecting his body? Or that the person he got the pills from was murdered by unknown people? Or that appearing in the paper might attract unwanted attention, for instance from other people who are taking the same drug? It just doesn't make sense that he only considers any of these things after 2 months of taking it.

I went to see Limitless at the theatre back in 2011 and I knew that it was going to pass on tv so I decided to watch it again. I pretty much remembered everything but there were a few elements that I didn't recall well. I have to say that like in the first watch I had a great time!

The concept is very cool, a pill that allow your brain to work in a super scale. You become a super intelligent person, it's like you have mental powers and you are capable of doing anything, your abilities are limitless.

The camera work and some of the effects are great and perfectly suits the surreal atmosphere of this film about the drug that will revolutionize the world.

Throughout the film the story is very unpredictable and full of suspense but there's also some plot wholes but when you put everything together, the good things about it overcome the bad.

The performances are great, nothing knew to say about the great Robert De Niro but is Bradley Cooper who really shines in this film with an amazing performance. It was with this role that I started to look at him in a different way, the way that I look at him today. An actor that is capable of doing more complicated roles than the usual comedies or ordinary romantic comedies.

Overall, Limitless is super entertaining and it's definitely a fun ride!

Watching this movie for the umpteenth time I'm still impressed at how cool it is. It's a movie that just works on so many levels and still has the pinache to stay cool. One of the strangest things is the number of people commenting on how the first thing he should have done was make his supply permanent. I kinda think somehow one of the most accessible movies I've ever seen went over a lot of people's head because that was literally the point.

30 minutes into the movie which is 15 minutes after he takes the first pill. Eddie says "Suddenly I knew what I needed to do[...] but it would take money to get there". I find that a really clever bit of foreshadowing because THAT is when he leapfrogs the idea of getting more pills all the way to making the pills permanent.

Is Limitless really interesting? maybe not. Is it all that original? Maybe not. But it's fun. It's power fantasy done well in way that feels satisfying and not cheesy. It doesn't overstay it's welcome and get crazy with it's scope (like Lucy for instance).

Limitless was a gas. So good I was ready to reject the TV show adaption but even that turned out pretty nice.

I rated this at a 7 before I sat down and thought more about writing a review too. It might be that my boyfriend's enthusiasm for the film had me feeling far more forgiving before, but I'm sorry to say that even a 6 is too high a rating for me personally.

People can roll their eyes at me all they want, but my first grievance with this film was towards the start when he had taken the first pill and fucked his landlord's wife. Cheating being presented so casually in movies so often is bad enough, but in what way was this supposed to make me want his character to succeed? I never did end up caring all that much about him throughout the entire film; he was pretty much a self serving prick (and his girlfriend was a bore too,) but that being his first decision based on being able to use his brain so efficiently really put a damper on things. I was immediately turned off (and in turn wanted to turn the film off!) and it was extremely difficult to keep an interest in the movie going forward for a good 20 minutes because that one stupid scene was all I could think about.

I noticed that several others also brought up the fact that he didn't look into how he would continue to take the pills past the supply he had on hand sooner. It makes sense that if you took one and saw how capable it could make you of solving a problem, then you would immediately also be considering what steps you should be taking in order to be able to keep doing that long term. If your brain really was running at 100% (or rather making it so that you can use your brain at its highest capacity) it also follows that you would look into where the pills came from, what possible side effects they'd caused to others, and in what ways they could potentially be improved upon.

It's also highly unlikely that when the police showed up at the scene of his ex brother-in-law's murder that he wouldn't be searched and the pills that were shoved down the back of his britches found.

Many of his decisions just weren't that smart though. And what about the amazingly brilliant book he wrote? If it was as kick ass as implied then shouldn't that have been bringing in some major money and public favor his way? Was it really necessary to get a loan from a street thug regardless? If it somehow was, then surely the use of the pills would have helped him execute that decision much more wisely. He would have known how to either use the guy just the once and be done or how to use him continuously without it crashing down on him.

Yes; I do agree that some of the film work was well done; including the use of color. The plot was an interesting one too; I just felt like they really missed the mark and there was no sympathizing connection to the characters. That's an important aspect of any movie to a vast majority of viewers. Dude could have died from the negative long-term effects of taking the pills and I doubt I would have been too choked up about it. If you know me, then you know that's saying a great deal.

Oh, and it's a minor annoyance, but why did they do the “twelve months later” text towards the end? “One year later” is not only far more aesthetically pleasing, but also would come to mind first anyway, no? Curious if that's just me!