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What does Eddie Morra do for a living?
A. School teacher
B. Author
Eddie Morra is a struggling author with writer's block. Eddie is portrayed by Bradley Cooper, an actor and producer. Cooper is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. In 2015, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
C. Policeman
D. None of the above
After the writer’s block, what’s the next bad thing that happens to Eddie?
A. His girlfriend breaks up with him
Eddie’s girlfriend, Lindy, frustrated with his lack of progress, breaks up with him. Lindy is portrayed by Abbie Cornish, also known by her rap name Dusk. She is an Australian actress and rapper known for her film and television roles, particularly her award-winning lead performance in 2004's Somersault, and internationally for her role as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star.
B. He steps in dog poop
C. He loses his wallet
D. He gets robbed
When do things start turning around for Eddie?
When he meets his ex-wife’s brother on the street
Eddie bumps into Vernon, the forgotten brother of his ex-wife, Melissa. Vernon gives Eddie a sample of a new nootropic (smart drug), NZT-48. Vernon is portrayed by Johnny Whitworth, who is best known for his performance as villain Blackout in the superhero film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
When he tries to reconcile with his girlfriend
When he visits his friend in the hospital
When he gets a job in a bookstore
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How much is NZT-48 a pop?
$200
$400
$600
$800
When Vernon buys Eddie a drink in the bar, Vernon offers to help him with his writer’s block with one NZT-48. Vernon tells Eddie that the drug is on the house, but Eddie says he doesn’t want it. Vernon: “Don’t be ungrateful, you know how much that costs? $800 a pop.â€
How does he know the drug is working?
A. He sees himself walking up his apartment stairs
B. He starts making connections with information he had in his brain years ago
C. He notices everything, from the sweat on his landlord’s wife’s forehead to her law book
D. All of the above
Some of the signs that the drug is working are that Eddie sees himself in the third person at times and sees everything vibrantly. He makes new connections with the information he already has in his brain. He is not hyper, spaced out, hungry, or in need of a smoke. Eddie said it best: “I wasn’t high, I wasn’t wired. I was just clear.â€
What happens when Eddie is still on the drug and he gets back in his apartment?
A. He calls and tells his girlfriend about it
B. He cleans his apartment
C. He finishes writing his new book
D. B & C
By taking just one of this new nootropic (smart drug), NZT-48, everything looks different. He can use all of his brain cells to accomplish everything he wants. He cleans his apartment obsessively and finishes writing his new book. Whenever Eddie Morra takes the pill, the movie heightens the color intensity, then turns it down when he is regular Eddie Morra.
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What happens on the screen when Eddie starts writing his book?
A. Everything else in the scene goes black except for Eddie and his computer
B. Letters start falling from the sky
When the camera shows words literally falling into his lap, it’s easy to understand how Eddie feels on this drug. It’s as if it is raining letters that glow with a light of their own. And the next day, he has proof the drug worked: a manuscript.
C. All the lights in his apartment blink on and off in a surge of energy
D. All the above
Eddie wants more of NZT-48. What does he do?
A. He seeks out Vernon
B. Vernon wants Eddie to do a favor before they talk - pick up his dry cleaning and breakfast
C. He asks drug dealers on the street about it
D. A & B
The next day, Eddie brings the pages he wrote to his publisher, who praises them. Eddie seeks out Vernon to get more NZT-48. Knowing he is beholden to Vernon for another pill, Eddie agrees to get breakfast for him and pick up his dry cleaning. When one thinks about the side-effects of NZT-48, it’s interesting to note that Morra, Bradley Cooper's character's last name, is the imperative of "to die" in Portuguese, which means the name of the character is something like "Edward Die!"
What does Eddie find out about the drug when he talks to Vern in Vernon’s apartment?
Vernon lied when he said the drug was FDA approved
Vernon refers to his client as “the boys in the kitchen†and not a pharmaceutical firm
NZT-48 doesn’t have a street name yet
All of the above
Eddie doesn’t like what he hears, but when Vernon asks if he wants more, he says, “Yes, definitely.†The risk, in his eyes, is definitely worth the gain. Were you aware that Shia LaBeouf was originally cast as Eddie, but had to drop out after badly injuring his left hand in a car accident in July 2008?
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What happens when Eddie returns with the breakfast and dry cleaning?
Vernon has been murdered
When Eddie comes back with the dry cleaning and breakfast, he discovers the door is not locked and Vernon has been murdered. It’s clear to see the place has been turned upside down, as if someone was looking for something. When Eddie sees Vern dead, he is shocked and knocks down a chair. Did you notice that in the next scene we see the chair standing normally?
Vernon makes Eddie return to the restaurant and get his food on white toast, not wheat
Eddie doesn’t go back, because he doesn’t want to be Vernon’s slave
Eddie calls up his ex-wife to discuss Vernon
What must Eddie find before the cops come to Vernon’s apartment?
Vernon's supply of NZT-48
He is looking for Vernon’s stash of NZT-48. Upon entering and seeing Vernon murdered, Eddie immediately called the police. However, now he realizes he didn’t give himself enough time to look for the stash before the cops come. He uses Playtex gloves to make sure his fingerprints are not on everything as he combs through the apartment. Did you know that the premise of the movie, that humans use only a small percentage of their brains - is a total fallacy?
Vernon’s receipt for the dry cleaning
Eddie's fingerprints, which are all over the place
None of the above
Where does Eddie find the drugs?
In the oven
After exhaustively going through Vernon’s apartment, Eddie sits next to Vernon on the couch and looks at the breakfast he bought this morning and says, “If you ever cooked, I’d be dead, too.†Knowing Eddie doesn’t cook, he goes right to the oven and finds the NZT-48 along with money and a ledger. Eddie shoves this down the back of his pants just as the police start getting impatient for him to open the door of Vernon’s apartment.
In the sink trap in the bathroom
In the crawl space
None of the above
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What is suspicious about the call he gets from his ex-wife in the police station?
His ex-wife, Melissa, doesn’t want to talk or meet
His ex-wife, Melissa, doesn’t want Eddie to come to Vernon’s funeral
His ex-wife, Melissa, doesn’t tell him one of her children is his
A & B
Melissa, for some mysterious reason, doesn’t want to talk or meet with Eddie. She doesn’t even want him to go to Vernon’s funeral. Melissa is played by Anna Friel, an English actress who made her film debut in Land Girls and has starred in other films, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Timeline, and Land of the Lost.
What changes does Eddie make, using what he stole from Vernon’s apartment?
A. He gets groomed and buys new clothes
B. He wins at poker and other card games
C. He gets all new friends
D. All of the above
With Vernon’s money and his NZT-48, Eddie has a major makeover. With new clothes, a new haircut, and a new workout regimen, he looks and feels better than ever. He learns piano in three days, travels the world with new friends, and can converse in many languages. He even jumps off a cliff into the ocean because he feels he must be moving or he’ll explode. When Eddie jumps off the cliff into the ocean it is the middle of the day, but when he returns to the surface of the water the sun is setting.
What does the camera show when Eddie is trading stocks?
A. His heart beat on a monitor
B. The ceiling in his apartment becomes a commodities exchange board
With the last $800 of Vernon’s money, Eddie makes $2,000. The ceiling reflects the trades he is making to increase his money. But he needs more money to make more money and banks are not lending to guys like Eddie. So, he gets a loan from a Russian loan shark, Gennady. The loan shark is portrayed by Andrew Howard, known for his role as Bad Frank Philips in Hatfields and McCoys. Howard has starred in Band of Brothers, Revolver and The Lion in Winter.
C. His bank account statement from the mail
D. None of the above
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What does the Russian loan shark say to Eddie when he gives Eddie the money?
A. You take this... you, mine
B. I cut you at waist
C. Peel your skin up over your head and tie knot in it
D. All of the above
The loan shark tries to impress on Eddie that once he gives Eddie money, Eddie belongs to him. And, he will kill Eddie if the money isn't paid back. He describes how he will kill Eddie and goes on to tell Eddie that you don’t die from this painful method, you suffocate. Unfortunately, Bradley Cooper's father was ill with terminal cancer during the filming of this movie. Cooper was able to check on his father every day because the movie was shot in his hometown of Philadelphia.
How does the camera convey that Eddie has upped his dosage when he trades stocks?
A. Everything is in the dark except Eddie and the monitors
B. They speed up the visuals on the monitors and Eddies' eye movements
C. When he starts coming “down†from the NZT-40, the lights go up and people are around him, talking
D. All of the above
Eddie takes $100,000 from a reluctant Russian loan shark, gets hired at a brokerage firm, and quickly parlays this capital into over two million dollars. He ups his dosage as he trades and the camera captures this in the above list. Also, the camera uses mind-bending images that take zoom and fish-eye shots to a new technical level. Getting the sense of what is happening internally with Eddie through the use of the camera is an art form in this movie.
What happens with Eddie and his ex-girlfriend, Lindy?
A. They get back together
Eddie meets Lindy at an Italian restaurant and impresses her by ordering in Italian. They reconcile that night and start spending every minute with each other. She reads about him in the newspaper and is impressed when the finance tycoon, Carl Van Loon, wants to meet him. It's amusing to know that when Eddie is ordering a meal in the Italian restaurant, what he says is gibberish, not Italian.
B. They work at opposing firms
C. They never talk again
D. None of the above
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When Carl Van Loon meets with Eddie, what happens?
Eddie impresses Carl Van Loon
Carl Van Loon gives Eddie a test on whether he should merge with another company
Carl Van Loon thinks Eddie is a lunatic
A & B
Eddie's success leads to a meeting with finance tycoon Carl Van Loon. Van Loon wants to test Eddie's analytical skills by seeking Eddie's advice on a merger with Hank Atwood's company. Carl Van Loon is portrayed by Robert De Niro, an award-winning actor and producer. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
What happens after the meeting with Carl Van Loon?
Eddie experiences hallucinations and time gaps
He hardly remembers anything about the last 18 hours
He may have killed a woman
All of the above
After the big meeting with Carl Van Loon in downtown Manhattan, Eddie starts experiencing hallucinations and time gaps. He doesn’t recall much about the past 18 hours. When he sees a news report about a woman being killed, he remembers he was with her. It unnerves him and he abruptly leaves the follow-up meeting with Carl Van Loon. Throughout this, the man in the tan coat follows Eddie. Here is an interesting tidbit - did you know the man in the tan coat speaks only one word of dialogue in the entire film?
How does Eddie hope to figure out what is happening to him?
He goes through Vernon’s ledger
He calls the contacts in the ledger and finds out they are in the hospital or dead
He calls his ex-wife
All of the above
As Eddie calls the contacts, he finds out they are in the hospital or dead. Eddie meets with Melissa, who looks like she has aged greatly and has the same limp as Eddie. She quit NZT-48 and experienced severe mental deterioration. She also knew of several people who had died after abruptly quitting.
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When the man in the tan coat follows Lindy and pulls a knife, what does she have to do to escape alive?
A. Put Eddie on the phone so the man with the tan coat can talk to him
B. Find Eddie’s pills and give them to the man in the tan coat
C. Take a pill and figure out a way to escape
After Eddie explains to Lindy how the pill works, he urges her to take one when she is trapped by the man in the tan coat. Once she takes the pill, the camera shows her mind working out all her options. She ends up using the skates a child was wearing to slice the face of the man in the tan coat. The man who is trying to kill Lindy is played by Tomas Arana.
D. None of the above
How long does it take for NZT-48 to work?
A. 5 minutes
B. 4 minutes
C. 1 minute
D. 30 seconds
According to Eddie, it takes 30 seconds to work. She knows it works when all the color around her intensifies and she sees herself. Did you know that tablets/capsules do not work within 30 seconds after ingestion? At the minimum, 15 minutes is the amount of time it takes for a drug to be absorbed into the body.
Which of these does Eddie hire?
Two body guards
A laboratory
An attorney
All of the above
He hires a laboratory to reverse-engineer NZT-48. He hires an attorney to keep the police from investigating Vernon's death. He also hires two bodyguards to protect him from Gennady, the Russian loan shark, who is threatening him to obtain more NZT-48. The lawyer is played by Ned Eisenberg, best known for his recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Roger Kressler.
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Why else are the police after Eddie?
An eyewitness saw Eddie leave the hotel room where the woman was murdered
The police are after Eddie because an eyewitness says he saw Eddie leave the hotel room where the woman was killed. Eddie is called to the police station to stand in a lineup. He takes his attorney with him, who steals his stash of NZT-48 from his coat.
They have been tracking NZT-48 for a long time, and they know that Eddie takes it
They think he is part of the Russian mob
All of the above
When Eddie receives a box with severed hands in it, whose hands are they?
A. The bodyguards he hired to protect him from the Russian loan shark
These are the severed hands of the bodyguards which Eddie hired to protect himself against the Russians. The purpose of sending Eddie the hands was to (supposedly) let him know there is no way for him to protect himself. Did you notice that on the package that Eddie received it tells exactly what’s inside? It says, “Hand Delivery.â€
B. The other people who have died on NZT-48
C. The hands of the eyewitness to the murder - the Russian mob took care of that minor annoyance
D. None of the above
When does Eddie decide to buy the fortress-type apartment?
When his hotel room is ransacked
Eddie knows his phone at home is bugged. He knows he is being watched and followed. After his hotel room is ransacked Eddie says, “Hotel rooms are no longer an option. What I need is a bunker.†Eddie then buys an apartment with reinforced with iron, bullet-proof glass, and cameras at all entrances for 8.5 million dollars. However, the Russians can still get in.
When his girlfriend’s home is ransacked
When his office is ransacked
None of the above
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When the Russians break in, Eddie drops the only NZT-48 pill he has. How does he get more?
A. He drinks the Russian’s blood
The Russian loan shark dissolves the NZT-48 and shoots it into his vein so it goes directly into his blood stream and will last longer. When the Russian’s back is turned, Eddie retrieves a knife which fell out of his packed boxes. The loan shark is going to torture Eddie and comes at him with a fillet knife. That's when Eddie stabs the Russian to death. Only NZT-48 can save Eddie, and the last of it is in the Russian’s blood stream. Eddie drinks the blood pooling on the floor.
B. He steals the Russian’s last pill
C. He jumps under his balcony to find the pill he dropped
D. None of the above
After blinding one of the Russians with a needle, how does he kill the other fully-sighted Russian?
He speaks Russian and tells the blind man to shoot toward his right -- exactly where the sighted Russian is standing
With the NZT-48 in his system, he can speak Russian and tell the blind man to shoot to his right. This kills the Russian who can see. Before this scene, the Russian got Eddie’s safe open, only to find the severed hands inside. One hand was positioned in the center of the safe with its middle finger up.
He uses the Russian as a human shield against the blind Russian
He takes the gun from the dead Russian and shoots the other two
None of the above
Twelve months later, what is Eddie doing?
A. He is running for Senator
B. He has published a book
C. He is on a Caribbean island
D. A & B
A year later, Eddie has retained his wealth, published a book, and is running for the United States Senate. We see Eddie has written a novel, "Illuminating the Dark Fields," a resemblance to the novel, "The Dark Fields," by Alan Glynn, which this movie is based on. He is also still with Lindy.
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What does Van Loon threaten Eddie with?
To end his supply of NZT-48
Van Loon visits him at his political headquarters and threatens to end his supply of NZT-48, since Van Loon has closed Eddie's lab. But Eddie tells Van Loon that he is working on improving the drug at multiple labs and removing its side effects. That he has weaned himself off NZT-48.
To tell the press he is a fake
To tell the police that Eddie murdered that woman
None of the above
What did the critics think of the film?
Mixed reviews
More favorable than unfavorable reviews
On review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, Limitless has an approval rating of 70%, based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "Although its script is uneven, Neil Burger directs Limitless with plenty of visual panache, and Bradley Cooper makes for a charismatic star."
They didn’t think much of it
None of the above
What did the fans think of the film?
They liked it more than the critics
The audience gave it a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. On a budget of $27 million, Limitless earned $161.8 million in box office sales. The film grossed $18.9 million on its opening weekend, to rank first at the box office.
They loved it
They hated it
None of the above
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What accolades did Limitless receive?
A. Best Thriller at the Scream Awards
B. Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
C. Award for the Best Original Song from the Academy Awards
D. A & B
The movie, Limitless, was based on the novel, The Dark Fields, by Alan Glynn. Limitless received the award for Best Thriller at the 2011 Scream Awards and was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at the 2012 Saturn Awards, but lost to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Although the music was good, Limitless was all about the special visual effects.
How can you enjoy more of Limitless?
Watch the Limitless television series
Discuss Limitless and human enhancement in academic scholarly debates
Watch Limitless on DVD at home
All of the above
The Limitless DVD came out in 2011, so you can watch Limitless from the comfort of your home. Limitless, the TV series, continues where the film left off. The main character is Brian Finch, and Bradley Cooper makes regular appearances, reprising his role as Edward Morra. However, the series has been canceled after one season. And yes, if you’re really into Limitless, the film has been discussed in academic scholarly debates, notably on human enhancement.
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