In a world where "mind over matter" has fallen far behind its reverse rival in the way things work, it's a great pleasure to see "Limitless," a movie where suspension of disbelief is a very difficult task but one worth striving for. Its success brings an almost-overwhelming sense of power and pleasure in succumbing to its fantasy.
A pill to make you smart? What a concept, and "Limitless," which opens here today, takes it to ultimate extremes. Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), a would-be writer who scored a book contract, cannot get words onto his computer screen, a problem that affects most of us writer types every now and then. His girl friend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish) has given up on him. His marriage failed a decade ago, so it's not surprising that he barely recognizes his former brother-in-law when they meet on the street.
But former brother-in-law, once a small-time drug dealer, has moved on to a major-league style pill. Under its influence, Eddie learns Italian in a morning, scores big at the stock market in the afternoon and finishes his novel in the evening. Next day, piano, more market triumphs and reunion with Lindy. And so on, but when he visits former brother-in-law, he finds a corpse. Luckily, he finds a stash of pills, too.
And we go on. "Limitless" is a fairly dumb movie, but Neil Burger's direction keeps thing moving nicely. Cooper and Robert De Niro handle the material well and it's an easy way to spend an evening while waiting for spring.
Limitless opens today at a number of theaters
—Joe