NEW RELEASE
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 20, 2011
RATING: 2/5LIMITLESS(M, 105 minutes). On general release"A tablet a day and what I could do was limitless," Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) explains in voice-over. "Suddenly I knew everything." Adapted by Leslie Dixon from Alan Glynn's 2001 first-person confessional novel, Limitless is directed by Neil Burger, whose career high to date has been The Illusionist (2006). It's based on a fascinating premise, but, after promising beginnings, it collapses in a heap of missed opportunities and dramatic compromises, not the least of which is an unproductive alteration to the ending of the novel. Eddie is a loser, a down-and-out writer, when he stumbles across a new wonder drug, NZT48, which allows him to access 100 per cent of the information in his brain (rather than the customary 20 to 30 per cent maximum). Perfectly suited to the needs of the upwardly mobile, get-rich-quick wheeler-dealers of the 21st century, NZT makes possible a lightning-fast processing of information and the discovery of patterns that others fail to see in the everyday deluge of data. Once Eddie's aboard this train, there's no looking back: estranged girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) reconsiders, the business world quickly appreciates how useful his talents could be, and everyone else waits in line for a minute of his time. Clad in Tom Ford suits and oozing confidence, he rushes around New York as if there's no tomorrow. And there might well not be. Like all drugs, NZT has side effects. In Eddie's case, it also puts him at risk from a Russian loan shark (Andrew Howard) who discovers the secret of his success. And his acceptance of a job as a consultant to a corporate boss played by Robert De Niro is clearly not a wise move. Anyone who's seen De Niro before, or even just heard of him, will understand immediately and without the aid of any mind-expanding drug that this cannot be a good move. Lindy tells him that NZT changes him, that he's not the same person and, for a moment, the film seems poised to deal with some pertinent issues regarding this 21st-century man. But then it jumps ship and leaves us to sort out the mess. Tom Ryan
© 2011 The Sunday Age