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     Many people believe that humans only have access to about 20% of their brains at a time, meaning that most of the things you've ever learned, or picked up by accident, are probably stored deep within, but you just can't get at them. What if someone had developed a pill that unlocks the mental floodgates, letting you use 100% of your brain for hours at a time? This is the question that Eddie (Bradley Cooper, The Hangover) faces. His troubled journey following his first encounter with this drug is an entertaining, yet fairly schizophrenic thriller crafted by the hands of director Neil Burger (The Illusionist).

      Eddie is a novelist with a serious case of writer's block. His apartment is filling up with garbage and dirty dishes while he stares at his TV in hopes of finding some inspiration. Fed up with his lack of ambition and lack of funds, his girlfriend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish, Sucker Punch), decides to leave. Down in the dumps, Eddie stubbles upon his drug dealing ex-brother-in-law, Vernon (Johnny Whitworth, 3:10 To Yuma), who says that he now works for a pharmaceutical company, and offers him a new pill that had recently been FDA approved that should help Eddie's mood and improve his focus. He reluctantly takes it, and soon finds he is breezing through activities with extreme concentration, able to apply knowledge he didn't know he had to any situation, and schmoozing anyone and everyone with intelligence and charm. After the first taste, he needs more, but he returns to Vernon's apartment to find him murdered. Eddie finds Vernon's stash before the police arrive, and soon his life is skyrocketing to success. He starts working for a key businessman in Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro, Taxi Driver), but Eddie soon finds himself an addict with a low supply of pills, and a growing list of health concerns. Just when he thought he might be sitting at the top of the world, Eddie's problems start to catch up with him.

      With an interesting concept, and Burgers's stylistic visual direction, Limitless manages to successfully dabble in multiple genres, but keeps one foot firmly in thriller mode. Unfortunately, this feat doesn't allow a distinct tone to develop that runs the course of the film. The constant barrage of sometimes unnecessary special effects doesn't help in this area either (notably a scene where he is typing his book and CGI letters are falling from the ceiling). On the other hand, others worked incredibly well, especially the multiple scenes in which the camera infinitely zooms through crowded city streets, acting as a visual representation for Eddie's dizzying forward momentum.

The film's success is due to its strong set of leads in Cooper, DeNiro, and Cornish. Cooper manages to convincingly go through a drastic transformation from a diffident, scatterbrained loser to an A-game businessman stacked with confidence. DeNiro's standard big shot role is minute, but critical. Playing the well put together ex-lover come taken aback partner in crime, Cornish comes into her biggest role yet.

      Fox's Blu-ray combo pack comes with a digital copy disc, and the Blu-ray contains both the theatrical and unrated versions (one minute difference) of the film. Since visuals play such a huge role in storytelling, its nice to see that the video presentation is extremely pleasing. When Eddie is on the drug, colors jump off the screen with beautiful detail and clarity. Coopers striking blue eyes glow. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio track is a perfect match for the visuals, reproducing rumbling bass, and clear voices that are well mixed and balanced. Special features are fairly standard, leading with an alright commentary track by Burger, in which he talks much about his decisions regarding visuals and storytelling devices. There are also two short featurettes, “A Man Without Limits” and “Taking It To The Limit: The Making of Limitless”. The first is about the character Eddie, and how Bradley Cooper came to play him, and the second is an overall look at the production of the film. Both are rather short, but the making of featurette has some insight into how they did some of the special effects and such. Also included is a slightly different alternative ending, which I'm glad they didn't use. The discs come packaged in a standard Blu-ray case with a nice holographic cardboard slipcase.

      Midway through the summer, Limitless is a nice change of pace from the comic book bonanzas, romantic comedies, and children's movies hitting the multiplexes. It's not the best executed film, but Burger's power hungry creation is a fun, and contemplative romp that is sure to find a place on many a movie fan's shelf.

--Jordan M. Smith

Release Date: July 19, 2011