Limitless

Here is another reason not to read books. Seriously. Why read a book when you can get a much more awesome version of it in a lot shorter time? Based on the book The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) has a serendipitous encounter which leads him to a drug that uncovers his long-burried potential. *If only I had some NZT (the drug in the movie) right now. This post would be finished a lot faster.* With only a $26M budget Niel Burger (Director) manages to fill every moment with action, suspense and occasionally some comic relief. The one thing this movie lacked was explosions. You can never go wrong with a well timed explosion. There is, however, a scene where Lindy (Abbie Cornish) uses an ice-skate attached to a small child as a weapon. That was awesome! Visually, I would say the movie has it all.

One reason I would prefer to see a movie than read a book is the immersive experience. When done well, you can feel as if you were part of the experience and not just a third party hearing about it. The director definitely did his job well. Burger uses different methods to make the audience feel like they are partaking in Eddie's high. The exposure of the film is changed depending on whether or not Eddie is taking NZT. Off NZT the colors seem bland and lifeless. On NZT the world becomes more vibrant and clear. This is a reflection of what the drug does to its user. The story, like Eddie's brain, gets faster and faster. The pace of the movie adds to the intensity of the storyline. The movie only slows down when Eddie is off NZT- again, reflecting how the addict would feel off the drug.

The director wasn't the only one who came through on this film. I was pleasantly suprised to see Bradley Cooper do so well in a serious role with depth. Bradley is most famous for his light-hearted mischievious charatcers as seen in "The Hangover," "Failure to Launch" and "Wedding Crashers." I think this was a great step for him, showing the acting community that he can do more than make the audience laugh. Robert De Niro puts on a show as usual. He played the more experienced mentor role in the film and I wonder if some of that mentoring took place off set as well. I'm not sure how much of the budget was spent on securing De Niro in the role of Carl, but it was money well spent. What can I say about Abbie Cornish other than she wields ice-skate-wearing children like a pro.

When I left this movie one of the first thoughts that came to my mind was: "I've gotta go read that book!" Usually if I said that a movie made me want to read it would be a negative statement. Here it was because I left the theater wanting more- even if that meant I had to read.

Overall Score: A-