Limitless

To be honest, I didn't care for it when it was out in theatres, mainly because I 

a) didn't know what it was about and;

b) had no interest in yet another movie with some slick-haired pretty boy as the protagonist.

Not to mention that

c) it looked like one of those movies about a scandal on Wall Street involving shots of actors trying to look pensive in the back seats of limos.

But when I overheard the premise while on the bus, I definitely became curious and couldn't help but go for it once the opportunity presented itself, yesterday.

So I'm watching the movie and it's pretty cool, but I can't help but feel like I've seen it before. 

Sure, there's the borderline "Inception" sort of premise to it in terms of unlocking dormant (no pun intended) parts of the brain and the ramifications that follow when one isn't quite ready for the experience as well as what happens when someone takes it too far or does it too often.

Okay, so obviously there are a number of similarities between the two movies which can be interpreted as odd at the very least, considering the book "The Dark Fields" which "Limitless" was based on was published in 2001 and the treatment for "Inception" was brought to Warner Brothers in 2001...which makes one think if maybe there was some sort of Inception thing going on between Glynn and Nolan.

...My point here is that "Limitless" was familiar, regardless of the "Inception" factor.

Why?

Anyone who's been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and has taken prescription meds will know EXACTLY what I'm talkin' 'bout.

For those of you who don't, I shall briefly explain:

Prescription meds for ADD/ADHD range from Adderall to Vyvanse, but they all (as far as my experience takes me) more or less give you the feeling that Eddie experiences when he takes NZT-48. You lose appetite, you lose the need to sleep, sure you get a little quirky but you are able to get shit DONE -not to mention the fact that you understand things better. Work moves along more fluidly, more descriptively and then you just want to do more because you've already accomplished so much.

At one point in the movie, he says something about how he needed to keep moving forward and I can definitely relate, though of course that's mainly the ADHD talking and no it did not involve me jumping off a cliff...physically speaking, at least.

He gets more ideas, wants to move into another niche career-wise, moves in different social circles and in essence becomes a very different person. He's cleaned himself up in more ways than one, he's more motivated, cunning, able to tear away from the situation and see it from an objective point of view and actually look at the options around him as they are embedded in the little details he, on any other day, would not have noticed.

Even the ability to extract certain memories happens, though sadly nowhere near to the extent portrayed in the film.

To be blunt, NZT-48 is like the love-child of a Ritalin-Steroids-Viagra threesome. You become confident, feel as if you're unstoppable which provides a mental boner so great that you want to just intellectually fuck the shit out of whatever task is presented to you.
There are the ugly side-effects, the feeling of NOT feeling like you're good enough without it; even when you try to look at your notes or the beginnings of a paper you were working on, it'll look just like Eddie's financial algorithm files: Hieroglyphs. Indecipherable symbols without that magic smart pill to make things clearer.

It's sad. And it sucks. But it's true.

Anyway, in the end he gets it permanently done that way he doesn't have to worry about taking pills for the rest of his life or what have you. He publishes a book, gets involved in politics, and threatens the guy who tries to blackmail him, even though the dude was the one who took a chance on him when he was getting into the investment game and continued to take a chance on him because he knew he was onto something.

But you see, that's the other thing about NZT-48 and I guess ADD/ADHD meds in general: they turn you into a more cynical person who can calculate the moves of others because you are now able to see the paths of possibilities and their ensuing results. The ones you pay more attention to are the ones wherein you are more likely to get hurt. 

The hyper-awareness can lead to paranoia, but it's all in how you handle it and who you surround yourself with. Not to mention the fact that Eddie made a stupid move by downing one pill after another. 

Who the fuck does that?

In any case, twas an interesting movie. Could've been less drawn out and the on-again off-again relationship was annoying, but all in all a decent film.