Limitless... Winning?

I think Charlie Sheen could learn a lot from Limitless. Actually, I take that back. Charlie Sheen couldn’t learn from anybody. He’s not at a point where he’s really listening to anyone yet. He’s trying to teach everyone a lesson. What lesson is that? You got me. One thing is for sure, it certainly ain’t winning.

Let’s just say someone in a predicament like Charlie Sheen’s who is willing to listen and is trying to learn from their mistakes could learn a lot from Limitless. The movie is about a starving author named Edward Morra who, through a series of …well basically, fate leads him to discover a drug called “NZT.” From there, it’s a roller coaster ride throughout the course of a year.

Limitless makes more real the dangers of being an addict, a lesson I feel America needs to hear. Most addicts don’t realize they’re addicts until they try to abandon the normal that they’ve known for so long. There’s desperation, craziness, even a sense of hopelessness. And you definitely feel it in the movie.

Bradley Cooper gives a great performance, and shows us that he can definitely clean up nicely, as he goes from looking haggard and unshaven to professional and attractive (and back again. And then professional and attractive again. It’s a long story, just go see the movie.) He does a good job of expressing his different emotions without speaking. He giggles like a little kid when something goes well, which is adorable. And when he’s upset he gets these puppy dog eyes…

Anyway, the creators definitely had some fun with the lighting and camera angles. Unfortunately, most of the time this “creativity” came off as a bunch of new film students that wanted to create this revolutionary visionary spectacular. It was cool sometimes, but it often came off as dizzying and hard to look at. Less is more.

The quality of the movie? I feel like the creators tried to do something good, but fell a little flat. There were definitely some clichés, predictable twists, gross scenes, and boring patches. It fell slightly flat, but other than that, it was pretty good.

 I can’t decide if it was really realistic or unrealistic. We’ll have to see when this product or something similar to it becomes available, which, after seeing this movie, I’m not sure if I want to happen or not.

Limitless definitely left some questions unanswered, but I doubt there will be a second installment. Actually, now that I think about it…nah.

This movie reminds moviegoers that life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be happy. In a way, it reminds me of the reverse of The Adjustment Bureau. But I won’t ruin that one for you. (P.S. If you haven’t, go see the Adjustment Bureau, it’s better!)