Limitless: The Potential for Greatness

Wow, I could relate to the main character in this film. Brian Finch (Bradley Cooper) is a writer with years of "writers block." He has trouble getting....

Okay, I literally wrote that start of a sentence on June 21. This irked Paul to no end. I find it hilarious. If you watch this film, Limitless, life really can imitate art or art does imitate life. I related to the main character so much that it's a little too close to home for me. Brian Finch is a professional writer that cannot crystallize all the ideas in his head and get them to work in a coherent organized manner. Everyone keeps looking at him baffled as to why he can't "get it together" when he has so much potential. I empathized with the character because it shows how exasperating modern life is when you struggle specifically with executive function skills. As an adult, you are expected to do a lot of left-brained living (work, pay bills, clean house, and maintain relationships) that completely relies on your ability to use executive function skills. If you haven't learned these skills and you are a creative right-brained type it's hard to make a living doing what you love because of pesky details like deadlines. Trust me I know. The right-brained types are just trying to look the part and hope you do not notice the hula-hooping we did behind the scenes.

Sadly, Brian Finch succumbs to unhealthy coping mechanisms and is basically self-destructing. That is until he gets a hold of a 'miracle' drug called NZT that has not yet been released on the market. Suddenly, he can actually focus and retain all the information in his brain and make it work to his advantage. Is this movie take a look at ADHD and drugs such as Ritalin and Adderal? I think the movie points a finger at the pharmaceuticals. How they manipulate us, how we don't always know what is in the drugs we take, and how people become addicted to the quick fix.

Our society has a different definition of success than God's definition. When you accept the Lord God as your Savior your priorities become His. Therefore, even if you never get accolades from others: you will always be valued in the eyes of the One who matters.

Here is my movie review summary:

1. Obviously, I am fascinated by the educational information coming out about "executive skills." So, for that reason I was very glued to this story line.
2.There is one violent scene in the beginning and I thought that would be it, but sadly this movie right in the middle goes into a very violent scene because everyone wants to get a hold of this drug. It becomes gory! It was so intense I had to hide under a blanket. Yes, I know. I'm a wimp.
3. Pick your own ending twist. The end of the movie will leave you so perplexed that you will be loudly debating the last few scenes, re-watching the last few moments, and trying to figure out the conclusion of the film, which is awesome!

Three out of five stars.

Resources:

Reaching Your Full Potential by Charles Stanley (In Touch Ministries)

Finally Organized by Kathy Roberts (The Tidy Tutor) Ebook

Unleashing Your Potential : A Review of Limitless

Just finished the movie Limitless by Bradley Cooper and have found out it has much more of a

following than I originally thought.   The story is about a burned-out writer who can't seem to focus on his writing.  He is kind of sloppy and very unmotivated.  Then he starts taking an experimental drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain rather than the 10-20% that normal humans use on a day-to-day basis.   After he starts taking this, he realizes his potential and begins to write and become an amazing individual due to his tremendous focus and expertise even though he is the same person.  The problems begin when he relies on this drug to do anything meaningful in his life and dangerous people start to want to control this drug so that they can be limitless as well as controlling of others.

This movie definitely had some twists and surprises and I was kind of puzzled by the ending.  Turns out the ending is open to several interpretations as to what happens and that sets it apart a lot from other movies.  After googling Limitless and endings, there are several ideas of what really happened,  but I won't go into spoiling it for you.  Here is what I thought the movie did well:

1. Showed how productive someone can be with complete focus using all resources we've been given.

Granted this is fiction, but it was an interesting story because his drugs didn't make him superhuman, so much as optimized human.  We all want to be intelligent and focused to do amazing things,  and this movie creates a hero role who can do just that.

2. Showed the dangers of addiction to any substance that is relied on to live life to the max.

The main character quickly learns that success has some high costs.  The miracle drug in this story caused others to want a piece of the action, and it creates a very strong addictive tendency in those that use it on a regular basis.  However, once the main guy experienced the perks, he became more and more willing to take chances to have the experience again.  Over time it changed him and his character went to crazy length to experience the high it delivered.   This is a great modern day parable for the dangers of addictive substances to live life above average.  Everyone needs to accept who they are and strive to grow without legal or illegal substances determining the outcome.

3. Great modern-day parable about the dangers of dependency on anything/anyone besides your Creator.

The writers may not have intended for this - but I found it a great modern-day fable/parable with a strong moral lesson.  Don't allow anything or anyone control you except the God who created you.  The second part of this lesson didn't come across so clearly, but the first part was very clearly shown in this movie's tale.  Crime/violence and crazy things begin to happen when the main hero gets to a point where he can't live without this untested drug.    Jesus says quite clearly in John 15:5 (NIV) "If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." That is the truth - if we aren't relying on God we will try to lean and rely on others and end up messing up in major ways.

Conclusion

This was a very thought provoking movie.  I didn't realize until after viewing it that it even spawned a TV series of the same name.  It was definitely entertaining to watch and made you consider the dangers of dependency on substances to function.  However, that being said I felt the writers went a bit too far in showing the gruesome, violent outcome of this hazardous journey.  The movie stuck with me for a while,  but in some ways I think it was because it was a bit shocking.  In other ways I think it was because the ending is open to interpretation and debate.  I liked how they did the ending. It wasn't tied up with a bow, but it made you think about the choices of the characters.    If you like good science-fiction/fantasy movies that make you think - you may want to try watching Limitless.