Limitless - B

On DVD and Blu-ray

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a down-on-his-luck struggling writer whose girlfriend dumps him. When he runs into his ex-wife's brother on the street, he decides to take a mysterious pill (called NZT) because, as he puts it, "how could things get any worse?" After 5-10 minutes, the drug stimulates his brain and allows him to become smarter by increasing neuronal connections. He uses this cognitive catapult to become a Wall Street investor and make millions of dollars. This draws the attention of investing guru Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) who then employs him to negotiate a merger . . .

For a movie about stimulant drugs with 2 shots of severed hands and the protagonist licking blood off the floor, it's surprising this got a PG-13 rating. The directorial touches include ramping up the color saturation when someone takes NZT, using lots of blue tints when the characters are "normal", and moving very quickly through the NYC streets to show a manic episode. Cooper is charismatic enough but doesn't have quite enough range to pull off all that is asked of him (genius, bum, martial arts expert, lothario, etc). Much better is Mr. De Niro, who's better here than he's been in over a decade (1997 being his last landmark year - Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog, Copland). In fact this speech is the best scene in the film:
The film loses its way when Eddie's once and future girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) becomes an action hero for a solitary scene. The abrupt ending and abundant loose ends (for starters, who killed the blonde?) corrupt an otherwise interesting discussion about success, greed, and addiction. B

The Wire alumnus: Brian A. Wilson, typecast as a detective.