Kristen Camara
Staff Writer
Limitless opened March 18 surprisingly taking the number one spot at the box office this past “March Madness” weekend. Limitless, a science fiction film blended with thriller and suspense, features Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Abbie Cornish.
Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), is a writer suffering tremendously from writer’s block in Manhattan after his girlfriend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish) leaves him. Soon Eddie is face to face with his ex-brother in law, Vernon (Johnny Whitsworth), who offers Eddie a secret drug, NZT. This drug changes Eddie and lets him use one hundred percent of his brain, making him feel motivated and powerful.
Although NZT has positives, such as Eddie being able to finish his novel and figure out tough situations that most humans would not be able to understand, Eddie becomes addicted to the drug, along with having many side effects. When going back to Vernon for more of NZT, Eddie becomes involved in a huge mess involving criminals and consequences.
Cooper, seen in Valentines Day (2010) and The Hangover (2009), portrays Eddie well at the beginning of the movie, but towards the end the script makes Cooper’s character seem like he doesn’t know whether he is supposed to be funny or serious, which causes confusion among viewers. The filmmakers make Cooper’s character seem “dumb” at times, which is disappointing, since I am a fan of Cooper’s other films.
Robert De Niro, seen in Little Fockers (2010) and Shark Tale (2004), plays Carl Van Loon and does a convincing job playing the Eddie’s co-worker and business man. De Niro completely takes on the role of Carl Van Loon full force and no one could have played his role better in the film.
Limitless’ plot becomes hard to follow especially in the last half an hour of the film, as most of the twists and conflicts become resolved in a short period of time. I felt in order for viewers to comprehend the end of the film, the film should have allowed more time for the resolutions and less time on Eddie becoming addicted to the drug.
Overall I thought the movie was interesting, but mediocre. It was entertaining at most times, but I feel that the movie could have been much better. Limitless’ plot contains a brilliant and entertaining idea for a movie, but I feel that the plot could have been taken to the next level.
