Film Review: Limitless

We all know the age old adage that human beings 'only use 10% of their brain', and many take this to be some sort of established fact based on irrefutable science. It is a myth, and one that persists through the erudition of the popular culture we are exposed to. In a way, it is a somewhat comforting thought, in that it undoubtedly motivates people to strive for greater creativity and productivity in their lives. Indeed, the encouragement and hope this myth offers helps to explain its perpetuation in the cultural zeitgeist. However, like so many uplifting folk tales which appear too good to be true, the actual truth of the matter seems to be the least important aspect.

And so we have a film that is based around this very fable. What would happen if, taking this so called 'axiom' to be true, there was a way to access the remaining 90% of our brain? Limitless offers one take on the realising of maximum human potential. When struggling writer Eddie Morra (Cooper) is offered an experimental see-through pill which bestows him with superhuman abilities, he finds himself able to view the world with total transparency. When, through extraneous circumstances he is able to get his hands on an indefinite supply, he makes an overnight transformation from zero to hero.

The question is, what would you do with all this unlimited brain power? Sure, there's a lot to be said for using your new found intelligence to become rich beyond your wildest imagination, but it's hardly the most enthralling concept for a movie. Limitless is essentially about a man who takes a magic pill and then plays the stock market. Boom. Yes, there is drama and suspense when, attracted by his sudden ascension to the top of the social stratosphere, shady figures resembling Niko Bellic and John Malkovich begin hunting Eddie, but it really doesn't detract from the central realisation of the concept - get rich. Limitless promises much with its daft, yet admittedly fun premise and while it is slow to start, there are parts where you start to feel it might be going somewhere. However, like the pill, no sooner than you feel the rush do you start to feel the come down as the film descends into meandering pointlessness.

While Cooper's character is charming and likeable, it is still difficult to garner whether he's cut out for a main role. There's definitely something that doesn't quite fit with him being leading man material, but then that might be because you'll find him more often playing roles which rely on group dynamics, such as in The Hangover or the A-Team. Thankfully however, Robert De Niro seems to be back on form as Eddie's billionaire mentor, Carl Van Loom. It is always nice to see an actor effortlessly enjoying the material, especially one as great as De Niro having fallen so far from grace in a string of shitty movies of late. You'll also never see Anna Friel look so bad. *shudders*.

Limitless is an interesting concept, and overall a reasonably solid and entertaining effort. Unfortunately it stutters in too many places and perhaps doesn't deal with the material as well as it should. The ending is particularly weak and there are so many gaps (explained by the drug's handy side-effect of causing blackouts) that we're just left to assume things - particularly an unsolved murder sub-plot merely brushed under the rug. Consequently, Limitless' potential capacity for greatness is never fully realised and thus, unfortunately, remains limited.

Film Review: Meet the Parents: Little Fockers

Meet the Parents was a funny film. Surprisingly for a sequel Meet the Fockers wasn't half bad either. As such, it is understandably tempting to further cash in on the success of the franchise by releasing a third in the series, Meet the Parents: Little Fockers. Unfortunately however they've overshot on this one. Little Fockers scarcely elicits a smirk and not even the addition of Jessica Alba's hotness permits this third incarnation a saving grace.

By now we're probably familiar with Gaylord Focker's (Stiller) ex-CIA and uber-paranoid father-in-law, Jack Byrnes (De Niro). In this outing we are treated to much of the same; Byrnes is still unconvinced that Focker is good enough for his daughter, and suspects he is cheating on her with a work colleague (Alba). Thus, much of the film is about Byrne's attempts to catch Focker in the act, and so ensues the supposed hysterical farce.

There was no need for this film to have been made. The franchise's running joke - the name 'Focker' - stopped being funny after the initial unveiling in the first movie. The entire premise has been used to within a fraction of its life and there is no real way to take it forward. Even the addition of several cameos from various stars couldn't give this film some traction, probably ironically doing more to harm with their convoluting presences than to help it. So tired is the concept that about half way through I just got bored and started fiddling with my iPad.

In every way this film typifies Hollywood's adversity to risk in favour of resuscitating dead corpses in the name of the Greenback. What's more, what the hell has happened to Robert De Niro?! Granted, he hasn't sunk to the lows of Al Pacino quite yet, but comon man! He is arguably one of the finest actors of his generation! Little Fockers is the same shit, with poorer jokes. Avoid.

Film Review: Machete

 

Conspiracy crackpot Alex Jones warned Robert Rodriguez's new grindhouse epic, Machete, was a sinister piece of propaganda with the expressed design of triggering a race war in the United States. Naturally with such hype surrounding the film, I eagerly anticipated its release.

First thing's first, Alex Jones is an idiot. While it is somewhat possible to see where he is tenuously grasping at straws in his assertions, only an over-sensitive, self-important prat who thinks the world is out to get him would illogically draw the same conclusions. So let's start with the plot then. Machete (Trejo) is an incorruptible Mexican federale, hell bent on taking down local kingpin Torrez (Seagal). When Machete falls into one of Torrez's traps which sees the murder of his family, he illegally crosses the Mexican border to begin a new life in the United States.

Machete doesn't take itself as seriously as Mr Jones suggests. While the plot sees Machete become embroiled in the illegal smuggling of Mexicans across the border - a sensitive issue in the United States - against a backdrop of evil redkneck whitey setting up a vigilante group to viciously murder those trying to cross, it never delves into anything sinister. If anything, Machete utterly ridicules everything in ironic fashion.

Filmed in the grainy style of the exploitation films of the seventies, the opening scene, with its stylistic camera angles, colour saturation and film scratches instantly boosts expectations for this to be as epic as Rodriguez and Tarantino's 2007 grindhouse epics, Planet Terror and Death Proof. Unfortunately, Machete doesn't measure up. There are scenes that may indeed outrage you, but this film is so stupid it's almost impossible to get angry at it. In a convoluted plot involving a conspiracy similar to those espoused by Alex Jones, the story essentially falls flat on its ass. Where Machete does win however is in its gratuitous violence. It doesn't skimp on the nudity either. Lindsay Lohan's tits make an appearance as does a quick nude scene featuring Jessica Alba. Unfortunately all the 'interesting' bits are 'artistically' hidden. Unfortunately no nudity from Michelle Rodriguez either, who looks absolutely smoking in this movie - although she does don a nice little cat suit. I'll stop perving now. Whilst everything about this film is tasteless and silly, there are some good performances. Notably, the villains in the film are incredibly fun to watch. Seagal is delightfully cheesy as Torrez and De Niro is enjoyable as the sleaze-ball senator, but it is Jeff Fahey's character, Booth, who steals the award for best performance. 

However, Machete is ultimately a disappointing film. After the opening scene the grindhouse cinematography reverts to present day style. Further, for a film with such limited dearth it is amazing at how much talking there is. For a film that boasts action, it certainly could have done with a lot more of it. While Machete may anger people with its political incorrectness, it is difficult to view such an asinine film as ever broadcasting a serious message. This is a relatively fun film to watch, but it is not what it could have been. Ultimately you could probably save yourself an hour and a half by merely watching the two-minute trailer, because the full film doesn't really offer much more than that. Except Lindsay Lohan's boobs.