Title: LIMITLESS (2011)
This is the classic example of an "almost" movie. It's almost great. It almost catapults it's star to true "leading man" status. It almost allows it's director to fully be appreciated for his skills and insight. The issue is though, that the film finds itself much in the same place as Bradley Cooper at the beginning of the film, staring over the edge....but instead of teetering, teasing, or even giving in, the film cautiously backs down. A quote from Hal Hartley's brilliant "Henry Fool" comes to mind "opportunity will move out of the way, to let a man pass it by." This isn't to say that LIMITLESS is a bad film, just the contrary, it is a fantastic little film, that more than entertains during the runtime. There's just a desire to see it reach further, while it limply chooses to settle for second place. This, in a sense, is probably due to one of 2 factors; the inevitable mingling of studio execs to call for a more standard, pedestrian, mediocre, but by their words "happier" ending........or the director & writer burned up most of their energies with the preceding events, choosing a simple coda of an ending. A "we'll get them next time" approach to things, if you will. There are many instances where it is easy to see that the film will eventually have to let up, otherwise newspapers, televisions, the drug dealer on the corner would be singing the praises of the film. As it stands, it's the sort of movie you'll be happy to watch when you come across it on tv, but you won't feel bad if you have to skip out before the conclusion.
So what makes everything before the ending so entertaining, if not revelatory? Neil Burger and Bradley Cooper. The vision of the director, and the charisma of the lead. It can make a bad movie entertaining, and a meddling movie better than it has any right being. Burger is a man who has flirted with the possibility of break-out, a couple times. He garnered much attention with the intriguing, but fittingly hollow "Assassination of a President." His follow up is the film most people have heard of, the other magic movie from 2006, "The Illusionist", starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel. That's the kind of movie that bestows a director carte blanche on their follow-up, though Burger took the road less traveled, opting instead to go with "The Lucky Ones". Here is a film that while not bad, certainly feels as if it is out of place by about 40 years. Thankfully, while Limitless isn't going to win many awards, it does show that there are plenty of creative avenues to explore, for this relatively "green" director. Which brings us to Bradley Cooper. After reading that name, there are numerous women, and a few men, whose hearts fluttered momentarily. It took him a while, but after the last 2 years, we can safely say that Bradley Cooper has "arrived". (Though I for one will mention that I had been championing his "star potential" since Alias.) Here is a man, who even dirtied up like a crack-head, could easily land plenty of women, effortlessly. It's a testament to Burger's directorial sense, and the skills of editors Tracy Adams and Naomi Geraghty, respectively, that they play down Cooper's blue eyes, until the first time the drug takes hold. The first portion of the film, really shows off the talents of everyone in front of and behind the camera. The pacing is fast and darting, getting basic exposition out of the way while also being equally engaging. The opening credits themselves are some of the best I've seen, with a penetrating clanging in the distance, laid over black, or an impossible zoom that traverses half of downtown Manhattan at a blazing speed. Quick cuts, jump cuts, overlapping, doubling, filters, a trip through the brain, all get rattled off early on. Cooper's Eddie Mora, is the poster boy for the 30 something slacker: divorced, recently dumped, gainfully unemployed, a book deal (the advance, of which has been squandered at the local watering hole). He happens to run into his former brother-in-law (as is commonplace in a city as large as New York), a reformed drug dealer, who now peddles (thankfully) with FDA-approved merchandise. He gives Eddie a taste, for old times-sake and hopefully landing a future client. After witnessing the power and potential of the drug, like a love-sick addict begging for pain, he seeks out a chance for a bigger score. That, as they say, leads him further down the Rabbit Hole.
Part of the think that keeps Limitless from feeling too shaggy, are it's supporting characters. Mostly through the shoes of Robert Di Nero, Abbey Cornish, and scene stealing Andrew Howard, as a small time Russian Mobster (and has the best arc I have seen in a secondary character, in a very very long time). He is able to infuse his scenes with a quiet ferocious intensity, masked by oddly placed, but increasingly wicked black humor. Di Nero fares the weakest of the three initially, but as his role expands, and becomes ever more present, there is a spark lit under the actor that has been missing from the last few years. Here is a movie that also turns out to be a character actors dream. There are three integral characters to the film that will have the audience members whispering to their friends, "how do I know that guy?"
While the pacing of the movie is one of it's strong suits, it's also a deterrent, because it is there also to distract. There are a few plot-holes, and numerous questions unanswered, not to mention avenues unexplored. Burger and company go through great lengths to ask about one's untapped potential, and the possibilities there-in, they even expand further, giving implications of how many other people may have taken the drug of the film, and possibly had larger experiences than our lead. To open said doors, only to close them after a peak, isn't just mean, it's sloppy. In a franchise series, or summer fare (often leading to a franchise), it can be forgivable. Here, it's a one shot picture, not to be followed by a comic book, novel, or television series. The lights come over, and the story is over. It's a lean film as is, quick, entertaining, fun, mildly engaging. The sort of film where you wish it would go on for another 20-30 minutes, not because you can't get enough of it, but so it show you more, to close the door more firmly.
*** out of *****
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