Funny story. I just finished watching watching Bigger Than Life (the closing credits were literally still on the screen) as the UPS delivery guy rang my doorbell to drop off my copy of Limitless.
The excellent 1956 Nicholas Ray film — I’m talking about Bigger Than Life now — stars James Mason as a family man whose dependency on cortisone (an experimental drug at the time) results in some rather erratic behavior. Limitless treads similar waters in a less subtle fashion, combining story elements of Bigger Than Life and Flowers for Algernon while presenting them with a gimmicky visual flair reminiscent of Crank, Spun and Enter the Void.
The film centers on a struggling novelist played by Bradley Cooper who obtains an untested drug called NZT from his shady drug-dealing buddy. The pill gives him the focus he needs to fulfill his book contract, among many other things such as earn millions on Wall Street, learn to play the piano in three days, fight like Bruce Lee, you name it. Quite predictably, the drug begins showing side effects because NZT can’t make Cooper smart enough to consume in moderation, much less steer clear of the mob.
Watching Limitless feels a lot like watching a longer version of the trailer for Limitless. Rise. Fall. Rise again. That’s pretty much it. Nothing happens that you aren’t completely expecting, even if the way it happens rarely makes sense. At one point, Cooper is jonesing so hard for a fix that he can’t stand up. Minutes later, he coaches his girlfriend (Sucker Punch‘s Abbie Cornish) to evade a Russian goon and return with his stash as the NZT allows Cornish the vision to use a young girl wearing ice skates as a weapon.
Cooper shows flashes of the the considerable charm and comic timing he displayed in The Hangover and The A-Team, but he mostly seems hampered by a script that takes itself a bit too seriously. His character is frustrating because he uses his newfound genius for personal gain by indulging in women, money and thrill-seeking. He’s content drawing graphs and trading stocks when he could be developing alternative energy sources, curing cancer or I don’t know — anything useful. Robert De Niro is effective as a businessman looking to take advantage of Cooper’s abilities, but he ultimately feels underused.
Fox delivers a fine transfer that’s especially vibrant in the glowing, saturated scenes when Cooper’s character is under the influence of NZT, then grey and dingy when he’s off the drug. It’s all very “this is your life. Now, this is your life on NZT,” while Mason’s frightening performance gave us all we needed in Bigger Than Life.
The unrated “Extended Version” of Limitless is less than a minute longer than the Theatrical Version. There’s a little nudity and a few f-bombs thrown in, but that’s about it. The supplements include a pair of trivial featurettes and an alternate ending that actually works better than the theatrical one. It’s shorter, sweeter and packs a stronger punch by reinserting some of those nice lines from the trailer that didn’t make the final cut.
Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) does a good job of explaining some of these stylistic choices in a commentary track that fans of the film should definitely enjoy, though you get the feeling he runs out of things to say about 20 minutes in and just starts repeating several of his main points.
That’s really the problem with the film as well. Burger has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, but when they begin losing their luster all we’re left with is a very ordinary, predictable story that doesn’t have a lot to say. Limitless has the pacing to offer a breezy enough 100 minute diversion, but a rental or cable viewing should suffice.
