How sad is this?

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Blistering performances.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Limitless is a good film but not great because it becomes a generic action movie after a while when the potential could have been a lot more. The story is about a writer suffering from a terrible case of writer's block and some personal life issues to boot. He is offered a sort of wonder-pill which does wonders, and he is not only able to get over his block but do some great things also. He demands more of this pill and gets sucked into a cesspool of crime and danger. Bradley Cooper is likeable enough to carry this film (He's pretty much the only consistent character) and De Niro gets a moment to spout some cool stuff. The special effects deserve a mention and there is some stunning infinite zoom scenes especially the opener. Plus, the entire film has a kind of kinetic or synthetic energy which is rather cool.

A drug that puts your entire brain to use? That's the drug I have been looking for all my life. So I was super keen on watching this movie. It didn't disappoint. It was every bit of the crazy ride I would expect it to be. The super-highs of being able to use your brain to its maximum potential. The terrible lows of withdrawal. The dangers of getting mixed up with the wrong people and rubbing powerful people the wrong way. This movie portrayed all of these brilliantly. What I liked even better was that the movie didn't take a preachy "don't do drugs, it's bad for you" turn towards the end. In fact, Eddie goes on to become the senator and still continue to pop the magic pill. Great movie.

I find this movie both fascinating and at the same time limiting. It also unwittingly reflects on the questions of our mind, subconscious, creativity, abilities and what we can do with it all. I'd say that the way these notions are portrayed in the movie is more of a male view on the situation. Creativity cannot be forced and writer's blocks can be unblocked in so many other ways but by a single pill. Mastery, for me, lies not in taking pills to unlock our great abilities, hidden talents and enter the subconscious but by looking into ourselves, uncovering our own values, truths, talents and at the same time staying open to the world around us, staying tuned in, also using our intuition as well as logic. In a combination they are very powerful. On the other note, the struggles of the main protagonist, Eddie Morra, reminded me of so many writers, especially male ones, who try to solve everything by force, pills, drugs or alcohol and forget that the most powerful source is within us. They just should start using their intuition and creative side to unlock it. Having said that, I still believe it was fun to watch the movie to see how it will all end up.

A 7/10 just because the idea behind the scenario is great but someone wrecked the scenario in the process.TONS of spoilers, be aware.The film starts rather acceptable with a 'plausible' plot in the beginning, and for the first 1/3 it's quite well put together. But then it starts incorporating elements - such as the Russian guys, or the erratic love story in distress, or even worst, the illogical death of the modeling girl. The illogical evens just keep going with Eddie not being investigated for the death of Vernon when he was just in the room with the dead body. He makes $12k in a week which logarithmically speaking would have brought him close to $100k in a month and beyond millions in a year so no need to get in trouble with shady people for a 'loan'. More, as mentioned by other reviews, the Russian mafia guy doesn't get his money back, even when Eddie just made 2 million in ten days or so.Then, the more the movie approaches the end, the more they want us to believe many/most/all successful people must also be on this pill. This trashes the movie even more because the movie stands up and it's credible on the initial basis that Eddie was among very few people who had access to the pill. Like we need to trust the story, or if actually many people were on the pill, how comes Eddie was so quickly successful and that was a surprise for everybody? Finally, the way he puts Van Loon at his place is pathetic after during the whole story Van Loon was about the most powerful and fierce businessmen in the room. And then, just to put the cherry on the sundae, we learn that he can actually even see the future.The story plot could have been just as simple as Eddie making a pile of cash out of stock market, then he would have went back to his ex and blind her with all the dough and stuff, go out with her at a nice restaurant and end of the story, everybody's happy - including myself. But no, some bulb head had to mess with the script and make the film look just like a Picasso painting.