Bradley Cooper and Abbie Cornish star in Relativity Media’s THE DARK FIELDS. Photo Credit: Myles Aronowitz © 2011 Dark Fields Productions, LLC All Rights Reserved.

The lead characters Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) and his girlfriend are good looking. The premise – seeing what could happen if we used 100 as opposed to 30 per cent of our brains – is a compelling movie idea. There’s also a cool scene where the ceiling becomes a giant number board that flips about like a virtual calendar. Morra speaks in different languages. Charming. Bobby Deniro is in it!
These elements are enough to pull in and satisfy an audience for Limitless, originally based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn.
Indeed, I looked around at faces in the crowd and, sure enough, people were gasping and chuckling at all the right moments. I admit I found myself envying their abandon and, yes, naivety. I wish I had read the book and let my imagination do the work.
It pains me somewhat to knock this movie, because its gimmicks, and vivid colour palette intrigued me enough to go see it.
It seems Cooper is hoping this will be his big break into leading-man status, which, yes, he deserves.
However, the lack of cohesion between the film’s great ideas and the makers’ ability to translate onto celluloid is vast. This is of no fault to the director Neil Burger or the screenwriter Leslie Dixon. But nonetheless, I wanted more.
The permutations and combinations of expressing such an ambitious story are indeed limitless, yet this film takes an epic concept and delivers a mediocre thrill.
There are some cool visual effects that compensate for the rather flat storyline. Some darkly humorous moments make the ride enjoyable, but Limitless tries too hard to be edgy and stylish.
It just plain lacks believability for those less inclined to suspend their disbelief.  To me, this ultimately undermines its entertainment value.
The film isn’t something to write home about, but you knew that when you saw the preview.  And so did I.
Rating: 6/10