Limitless ~~1/2

After seeing the trailer for this film at least 5 times, I thought I’d give it a go. Bradley Cooper was pretty much unknown to me other than having to sit through one of his previous films, the terrible ‘A-Team’, on a plane journey. So I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about this new wannabe A-lister.

The story is pretty simple. Down at luck New Yorker Eddie Morra is loosing everything. His girlfriend, apartment, his drive to start/finish his novel and his mind. Up steps a fella who can help at just the right time. His ex-brother-in-law is a dealer, and a special one at that giving Eddie a dose of the new and highly prized NZT-48 (or some such invention) which allows the user to access 100% of his or her brain power.

And pretty much overnight Eddie becomes the best version of himself ever possible. He finishes his book, gets his girlfriend back (the wonderful Abbie Cornish making the most of a pretty dull roll) and decides to make some money in the finance world. But, as with any good morality tale, having upset that fickle beast karma, the darker side of life comes to get him in the guise of drug dealers and other shady characters.

At this point you would expect things to step up a notch but unfortunately, the pace and general lack of menace in the latter part of the film just didn’t do it for me. The build up to this had been pretty great and perhaps would have worked better had the chase and ‘fight’ scenes been less cheesy and more frightening.

There is a reasonably memorable scene in which the blade of an ice skate is used as a weapon but in the scheme of things, and by this point, the makers seemed to be grasping at straws.

Robert DeNiro and Anna Friel also star but to what end? It made no difference either to me or the film really but I suppose for some audiences, these actors would have been an added draw.

‘Limitless’ was billed as a ‘techno-thriller’ but, although I found the techno bit present and correct, I did not really find the thrill. Mr Cooper did a sterling job and I’d probably see his next flick (unless it’s ‘The Hangover 2’ which, having only just seen the first one, I will definitely give it a miss.) He certainly has something. Can’t quite put my finger on it and because of this, I am certain he will become a big Hollywood player in the very near future. Let’s hope he uses his charms and abilities for something better than this.

Viewed: 2nd April 2011