Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Movie Review: "Limitless"

Limitless
Directed by: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish
Rated: PG-13 for thematic material including a drug, violence including disturbing images, sexuality and language.

Medication can often do some incredible things; heal diseases, alter conditions, and, according to the movie Limitless, evidently make you the perfect man. The Neil Burger directed film has the opportunity to tell a low-budget, B-rated, Faustian-like tale where a black-market medication turns a loser into a perfect man; he becomes smart, likeable, wealth, and ambitious. But the side effects, including paranoia, addiction, health ramifications, and the loss of control of one’s self, comes with a high price tag. Unfortunately, the film not only embraces a happy ending which, thanks to the drug, is free of consequences (such as murdering a woman) but embraces a purely naturalistic view of life. While there is a portion of physical talent needed to succeed in some aspects of life, it downplays if not ignores the roles that will, determination, and providence play. (For instance, look at what handicapped people, such as FDR, were able to accomplish despite their situation.) To think that physical/mental ability somehow plays a role in those factors is a completely limited view of life and what’s valuable. So much for the title.

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