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One year later, Eddie's book has been published (titled ''Illuminating the Dark Fields'' — a reference to the novel on which the film is based), and Eddie is running for the [[United States Senate]]. In the midst of his campaign, Carl approaches Eddie with the revelation that he bought the company producing NZT and that the backroom NZT lab Eddie was financing has been shut down.
One year later, Eddie's book has been published (titled ''Illuminating the Dark Fields'' — a reference to the novel on which the film is based), and Eddie is running for the [[United States Senate]]. In the midst of his campaign, Carl approaches Eddie with the revelation that he bought the company producing NZT and that the backroom NZT lab Eddie was financing has been shut down.


Carl offers him an unlimited supply of NZT (admitting that they both know he is headed for Presidency); however, Eddie must use his political position to push Carl's agenda in return. Eddie refuses, claiming that he no longer needs the drug: his prolonged use, he says, has allowed him to come off of the drug and has permanently enhanced his brain. The viewer is left to decide whether he's telling the truth or not.
Carl offers him an unlimited supply of NZT (admitting that they both know he is headed for Presidency); however, Eddie must use his political position to push Carl's agenda in return. Eddie refuses, claiming that he no longer needs the drug: his prolonged use, he says, has allowed him to come off of the drug by altering the formula, which in turn has permanently enhanced his brain.


(In the alternate ending available on DVD, Eddie still rejects Van Loon's proposal. But it is then revealed Eddie is not off NZT, and vows that he will find a way out, saying, "Isn't that what the pill does?")
(In the alternate ending available on DVD, Eddie still rejects Van Loon's proposal. But it is then revealed Eddie is not off NZT, and vows that he will find a way out, saying, "Isn't that what the pill does?")

Revision as of 03:21, 5 August 2011

For other uses, see Limitless (film) (disambiguation).
Limitless
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNeil Burger
Screenplay byLeslie Dixon
Produced byLeslie Dixon
Ryan Kavanaugh
Scott Kroopf
StarringBradley Cooper
Abbie Cornish
Robert De Niro
CinematographyJo Willems
Edited byTracy Adams
Naomi Geraghty
Music byPaul Leonard-Morgan
Distributed byRelativity Media
Release date
  • March 18, 2011 (2011-03-18)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27 million[1]
Box office$155,449,455[2]

Limitless is a 2011 American thriller film directed by Neil Burger and starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro. It is based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn with the screenplay by Leslie Dixon. The film was released on March 18, 2011.

Plot

Edward "Eddie" Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a writer who lives in New York City and has recently been dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) in addition to failing to meet the deadline to turn in his new book, which he hasn't started yet. One day, Eddie comes across Vernon Gant (Johnny Whitworth), the brother of his ex-wife, Melissa Gant (Anna Friel). Vernon is a drug dealer, and he offers Eddie a sample of a new nootropic drug, NZT-48, claiming it has the ability for humans to access 100% of the brain's power, as opposed to the normal 20%. Eddie accepts, and, much to his surprise, the drug does indeed work, allowing him to finish his book.

Eddie asks for more of the drug, but he finds Vernon murdered and calls the police. He deduces that Vernon was probably killed by someone who wanted his stash. He finds the NZT and a wad of cash and uses them to turn his life around. He abandons his writing career and starts trading stocks, borrowing capital from a Russian mafia thug, Gennady (Andrew Howard).

Eddie becomes rich at an incredibly fast pace and is soon employed by the powerful businessman Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro). Eddie also gets back together with Lindy. He is followed by a man in a tan coat (Tomas Arana). He also starts using more and more NZT, causing side effects to occur: lost time, frenetic activity, and heart palpitations.

Eddie fails to accomplish a task assigned by Van Loon because of an NZT hangover, and fears he might even have killed a woman (Caroline Winberg). Suffering severe withdrawal symptoms due to the post-hangover attempt to quit NZT cold turkey, Eddie begins to feel incredibly sick and he turns to Lindy for help, revealing his addiction to NZT. Reluctantly Lindy agrees to retrieve his stash, hidden in her apartment and return it to him at her office.

However, on the way back to Eddie, Lindy is intercepted en route by the man in the tan coat, and it becomes obvious that he is dangerous, as he gives chase to Lindy, killing two would-be saviors as she flees. Eddie by phone convinces her to take one of the pills, and Lindy makes a bold escape. Though Eddie is saved, Lindy is convinced that he will destroy himself because of NZT and breaks up with him again. He is contacted by ex-wife Melissa and learns that she had been an NZT addict. Worse, he learns that withdrawal from the drug causes major health and mental problems, possibly resulting in death. She warns Eddie to taper off the NZT before it is too late.

Gennady tries one of Eddie's pills, realizes the effects and threatens Eddie until he agrees to give him more NZT. Despite Melissa's warnings, Eddie manages his consumption of the drug down to an acceptable level, then uses his fortune to hire a scientist to work on reverse engineering NZT, a process that could take years.

He assists Carl on a corporate merger deal with rival businessman Hank Atwood (Richard Bekins). Before the deal can take place, Atwood falls ill. Noticing the man in the tan coat working with Atwood, Eddie realizes the man's true mission — to steal Eddie's stash of NZT for his boss, whose real illness is NZT withdrawal. The stash is stolen by Eddie's lawyer, Brandt (Ned Eisenberg), who is revealed to also be working for Atwood.

Eddie is followed home, but manages to kill Gennady and two thugs with intelligence gained from what he believes to be the last of the NZT, which he drank directly from the deceased Gennady's bloodstream. Atwood dies, Brandt having kept the NZT for himself. Eddie agrees to work with the man in the tan coat to retrieve his stolen NZT at Brandt's house.

One year later, Eddie's book has been published (titled Illuminating the Dark Fields — a reference to the novel on which the film is based), and Eddie is running for the United States Senate. In the midst of his campaign, Carl approaches Eddie with the revelation that he bought the company producing NZT and that the backroom NZT lab Eddie was financing has been shut down.

Carl offers him an unlimited supply of NZT (admitting that they both know he is headed for Presidency); however, Eddie must use his political position to push Carl's agenda in return. Eddie refuses, claiming that he no longer needs the drug: his prolonged use, he says, has allowed him to come off of the drug by altering the formula, which in turn has permanently enhanced his brain.

(In the alternate ending available on DVD, Eddie still rejects Van Loon's proposal. But it is then revealed Eddie is not off NZT, and vows that he will find a way out, saying, "Isn't that what the pill does?")

Cast

Production

Limitless is based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. The film is directed by Neil Burger and is based on a screenplay by Leslie Dixon, who had acquired rights to the source material. Dixon wrote the adapted screenplay for less than her normal cost in exchange for being made one of the film's producers.[3] She and fellow producer Scott Kroopf approached Burger to direct the film, at the time titled The Dark Fields. For Burger, who had written and directed his previous three films, the collaboration was his first foray solely as director.[4] With Universal Pictures developing the project, Shia LaBeouf was announced in April 2008 to be cast as the film's star.[3]

The project eventually moved to development under Relativity Media and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Produced with Universal distributing through Relativity's Rogue Pictures. By November 2009, actor Bradley Cooper replaced LaBeouf in the starring role.[5] Robert De Niro was cast opposite Cooper by March 2010, and The Dark Fields began filming in Philadelphia the following May.[6] Filming also took place in New York City.[4] For a car chase scene filmed in Puerto Vallarta, filmmakers sought a luxury car. Italian carmaker Maserati provided two Maserati GranTurismo coupes for free in "a guerrilla-style approach" to product placement.[7] By December 2010, The Dark Fields was re-titled Limitless.[8]

Scientific accuracy

The premise of the film, that humans only use a certain percentage of their brains, is a complete myth.

Neurologist Barry Gordon describes the myth as laughably false, adding, "we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is active almost all the time",[9] while neuroscientist Barry Beyerstein has set out seven kinds of evidence refuting the ten percent myth.[10]

Physics professor James Kakalios said it was plausible that medical science could improve intelligence, but that neurochemistry is not advanced enough for it to be achieved currently. Kakalios also said the notion used in the film that human beings can only access 20% of their brains is a myth: 100% of it is used at different times. Kakalios said if such a pill existed, a person running out of the supply could actually experience a rebound effect[11] This is alluded to in the movie, as the protagonists' ex-wife explains that she can't concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time after coming off the drug.

However, the movie is not depicting the amount of brain activity that can be used at different times, but rather using 100% of the brain simultaneously. Although in the movie, NZT does enable the user to access "buried" memories previously not accessible, so as to further the myth that only 20% of the brain is ever used.

Release

Limitless had its world premiere in New York City on March 8, 2011.[12] It was released in 2,756 theaters in the United States and Canada on March 18, 2011.[2] It grossed a $18.9 million on its opening weekend to rank first at the box office, beating other openers The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul as well as carryovers Rango and Battle: Los Angeles.[13] Limitless was released in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2011.[14]

Before the film's release, Box Office Mojo called Limitless a wild card for its box office predictability, highlighting its "clearly articulated" premise and the pairing of Cooper and De Niro but questioned a successful opening. The film opened at number one in its first week in the US. The film did well at the box office, earning some $155 million worldwide against its $27 million budget. [15]

Critical reception

Limitless received generally positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 70% based on reviews from 168 critics, and reports a rating average of 6.4 out of 10. The site reported an overall consensus that, "Although its script is uneven, Neil Burger directs Limitless with plenty of visual panache, and Bradley Cooper makes for a charismatic star."[16] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 59 based on 37 reviews.[17]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 and 1/2 stars and said it was "not terrifically good, but the premise is intriguing" and also stated that director Neil Burger uses "inventive visual effects." Lastly he said, "Limitless only uses 15, maybe 20 percent of its brain. Still, that's more than a lot of movies do."[3][18]

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Limitless should be so much smarter than it is," believing that it took conventional plot turns and stuck closely to genre elements like Russian gangsters and Wall Street crooks. Honeycutt reserved praise for Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Anna Friel. He also commended cinematographer Jo Willems' camerawork and Patrizia von Brandenstein's production design in the film's array of locales.[19]

Variety's Robert Koehler called Limitless a "propulsive, unexpectedly funny thriller". Koehler wrote, "What makes the film so entertaining is its willingness to go far out, with transgressive touches and mind-bending images that take zoom and fish-eye shots to a new technical level, as the pill enables Eddie to experience astonishing new degrees of clarity, perception and energy." He said of Cooper's performance, "Going from grungy to ultra-suave with a corresponding shift in attitude, Cooper shows off his range in a film he dominates from start to finish. The result is classic Hollywood star magnetism, engaging auds physically and vocally, as his narration proves to be a crucial element of the pic's humor." The critic also positively compared Willems' cinematography to the style in Déjà Vu (2006) and commended the tempo set by the film's editors Naomi Geraghty and Tracy Adams and by composer Paul Leonard-Morgan.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kaufman, Amy (March 17, 2011). "Movie Projector: Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper and an alien battle for No. 1". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Limitless (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 11, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Siegel, Tatiana (April 13, 2008). "Shia LaBeouf visits 'Dark Fields'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Macaulay, Scott (2011). "Possible Side Effects". Filmmaker. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (November 5, 2009). "Bradley Cooper 'Fields' film offer". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (March 3, 2010). "De Niro to star in 'Fields'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Miller, Daniel (March 11, 2011). "How Maserati Landed Spots in 'Limitless' and 'Entourage' for Free". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Puente, Maria (December 17, 2010). "First look: 'Limitless' power comes in the form of a pill". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference sciam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Beyerstein, Barry L. (1999). "Whence Cometh the Myth that We Only Use 10% of our Brains?". In Sergio Della Sala (ed.). Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain. Wiley. pp. 3–24. ISBN 0-471-98303-9.
  11. ^ Bahn, Christopher (March 7, 2011). "'Limitless' brainpower plot isn't all that crazy". MSNBC. Retrieved March 13, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ Schaefer, Stephen (March 9, 2011). "'Limitless' bow reaches full potential". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 18, 2011). "Friday Box Office: 'Limitless' Pulls Ahead of Crowded Field". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "New Limitless UK Posters". Empire. February 21, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ Subers, Ray (March 2, 2011). "March 2011 Preview". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Limitless Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ "Limitless". Metacritic. Retrieved March 20, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ "Limitless". Chicago Sun-Times.
  19. ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (March 15, 2011). "Limitless: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Koehler, Robert (March 14, 2011). "Film Reviews: Limitless". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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