— Samantha Coombes contributed with this article
Ever thought a pill could make you the smartest person on the planet? Well, neither did Eddie Morra before he found NZT-48.
Bradley Cooper plays the wannabe novelist Eddie, whose life has hit rock bottom. His girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish), has left him after getting tired of acting like his mother and he has an extreme case of writers block.
The weary-eyed writer then bumps into his ex-wife’s drug dealer brother, who offers him a helping hand. A tiny clear pill allowing him to access every cell of his brain giving him limitless mental power.
After some hesitance, Eddie decides to take the pill believing he has nothing to lose. He goes into hyper-drive, cleaning his apartment from top to bottom and finishing his novel in a few hours.
However, he wakes up the next day feeling his depressed old self again. So, he goes back to his ex-brother-in-law in search of more pills to pop. But, even though he discovers the dark and dangerous world that the dealer has got himself into, he raids his apartment to find thousands of the little pills inside his oven.
Taking a pill a day, Eddie finds himself doing things he never thought possible in his depressing, grungy life. He learns languages in a few hours, finishes his book in four days, learns how to play the piano and even dresses better before mastering the stock market to become a millionaire in a few months.
He joins the big cats in Wall Street joining the business bed with Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) before the dangerous effects of the drug kick in. His precious stash is running out and he’s not the only one that wants it. Plus, the pill has horrific side effects: “It’ll wreck you or kill you, if someone else doesn’t do that first.”
Eddie soon finds himself on the run from a gang of angry Russians, as well as a man who will happily stab two people in a busy park during the daytime. As if being deprived from his life-changing drug wasn’t enough.
The gripping, pacey and terrifying paranoia thriller, see’s Coopers acting skills in a whole new light. Not only can he play the cool action man in the “A-Team”, but also the lost and pathetic poor man with no aspirations in “Limitless”, before becoming the magnetic and suave lady-killer we all know.
The strong plot and psychological aspects of the film are beautifully executed with Neil Burger’s direction, namely with the use of a continuous zoom through New York to symbolise the film’s title.
This gives “Limitless” a new edge, as you find how perfect intelligence equals ultimate power, even if you do feel a little uneasy in your seat. However, don’t be intimidated, as this flick will drag you in and keep you there until it reaches its fascinating end.