Limitless
Relativity Media | Release Date: March 18, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
18
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMar 19, 2011
Add it all up, including the nifty twist at the end, and what we have here is a fun Hollywood flick with a good head on its shoulders. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 17, 2011
Limitless rocks. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 16, 2011
In Limitless, a potently fanciful and fun thriller about a drug that turns you into a genius, Cooper proves a cock-of-the-walk movie star. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 16, 2011
For two hours it's a fun head trip. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid HughesMar 21, 2011
A loopy joy from start to finish, Bradley Cooper proves that he's the real deal. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMar 17, 2011
Some might call this movie a step backward after Burger's previous feature, the painfully honest Iraq war drama "The Lucky Ones," but as a stylish intrigue it's hard to beat. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 16, 2011
Some of its conceits may not hold up under intense scrutiny, but, generally speaking, it's a good time at the movies. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 18, 2011
It's a wet dream for anyone who's ever dreamed of getting an edge on the information highway. The worst side effect is that you won't believe a word of the damn thing in the morning. Fair exchange. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 17, 2011
Briskly paced, suspenseful thriller. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasMar 17, 2011
It's a small victory for flash in its eternal war with substance, but in this case, the flash is enough. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverCary DarlingMar 17, 2011
Burger has opened up what was a very interior book and injected it with a jolt of cinematic electricity. Smart move, smart movie. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 17, 2011
Almost all of it works as wish-fulfillment fantasy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 17, 2011
An energetic, enjoyably preposterous compound - it's a paranoid thriller blended with pseudo-neuro-science fiction and catalyzed by a jolting dose of satire. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 24, 2011
A heck of a ride. On the way to its unpredictable (if less than wholly satisfying) conclusion, it is entertaining, a little silly and visually dazzling. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 18, 2011
Burger's film would have been better had he ended it about three minutes earlier than he does -- a move that would have given his movie at least a dash of profundity. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 17, 2011
The movie is not terrifically good, but the premise is intriguing. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisMar 17, 2011
Basically an addiction thriller in which the thirst is for the acquisition and execution of knowledge. So you need an actor who seems surprised by how smart he is but not afraid to be charmingly intelligent. Cooper turns out to be perfect for the part. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 17, 2011
The problem with the movie isn't the acting, it's the story, which falls considerably short of the promise of its premise. For a plot about super-intelligent people, the screenplay is surprisingly dumb. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreMar 16, 2011
This film based on Alan Glynn's novel "Dark Fields" is entirely too reliant on voice-over, a bit too tarted-up by Burger in an effort to make this head trip a visual experience. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMar 18, 2011
The movie looks great, never lags, and keeps us intrigued throughout. It's not until the high wears off that we realize we've just been had. Read full review
55
NPRMark JenkinsMar 18, 2011
Directed by Neil Burger, whose "The Illusionist" also pulled an upbeat coda out of a hat, Limitless is entertaining for much of its running time. It's glib, and it's overly fond of hyperdrive pans, psychedelic montages and swift rack-focus shifts. Read full review
55
MovielineStephanie ZacharekMar 17, 2011
How, I'm wondering more and more often, do studios put movies like this one in front of audiences and assume they'll just buy it? The secret to making a great, or even just a good, thriller these days seems to have been lost. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 19, 2011
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. Read full review
50
SlateJohn SwansburgMar 18, 2011
Limitless is frustrating, in part, because it could have been much better. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithMar 18, 2011
Limitless may please a few looking for a shallow fantasy thriller, but won't fire up the synapses of the intellectually demanding. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 18, 2011
Rooted in empty materialism, but it never evokes the heady rush of a guilty pleasure or the precipitous payback of a thriller. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMar 17, 2011
The story gets away from itself as it barrels forward. The tiny bit of sense it makes at the beginning is quickly sacrificed in a conclusion so facile, illogical and cheap that it could use a dose of NZT itself. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMar 17, 2011
Smart isn't all it's cracked up to be and soon the movie is unraveling faster than all of Eddie's grand schemes. Read full review
50
TimeMary PolsMar 17, 2011
Slick and senseless. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 17, 2011
Limitless is a writer's movie by a writer, and it explores the dark side of the muse. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 17, 2011
For all its peripatetic energy, Limitless still winds up with the same-old blazing guns and wanton destruction of property. No matter how smart you may be, Hollywood will figure out a way to dumb you down. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedMar 15, 2011
Directed with a pulsating fervor by Neil Burger, Limitless is absurd but entertaining action-adventure escapism. Bradley Cooper is versatile and virile, and a valiant leading man. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttMar 15, 2011
Limitless should be so much smarter than it is. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 17, 2011
Begins as pseudo-realism before descending into weird and mangled wank-job fantasy. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineWade MajorMar 17, 2011
To his credit, director Neil Burger either doesn't realize or doesn't care that the material is hokey to the point of unintentional hilarity-if not for the film's intermittent moments of hyper-stylization and its almost crippling sense of self-importance, Limitless might have been a truly unwatchable bore rather than just annoyingly silly and tedious. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 15, 2011
As we work our way back to that cliff-hanger of an opening, it becomes clear that the movie is no acid critique, but a hollow endorsement of high living. Guess every generation gets its "Boiler Room." Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick SchagerMar 15, 2011
Without a complex thought about narcissism, merit, or addiction, Limitless is content to be an empty, one-note, satire-free fairy tale of avarice and corporate-political ambition. Read full review
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