A paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret "smart drug" that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film.
The filmmakers doesn't sweat the fact that Eddie is a chemically enhanced fraud. What scares them is any possibility of alienating the movie's target audience with a downer ending.
– Mark Jenkins,
NPR,
18 Mar 2011
rotten:
What would you do if you could take a pill and suddenly access 100 percent of your brain power? This is the premise behind Limitless, a sci-fi thriller that looks as if its makers utilized around 30 percent of theirs.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
18 Mar 2011
rotten:
Very limited, actually.
– David Denby,
New Yorker,
21 Mar 2011
fresh:
It's scatty and fast paced, and director Neil Burger employs some Gaspar Noe-style, bad-trip CG effects to heighten the mood.
– David Jenkins,
Time Out,
23 Mar 2011
fresh:
You could pick the script apart for impossibilities. But why bother? It's much more enjoyable to shut your brain off and have a good time.