PSYCHOANALYTIC: LIMITLESS 2011

PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM: LIMITLESS 2011 (film) by Neil Burger

PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM -  adopts the methods of "reading" employed by Freud and later theorists to interpret texts. It argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the author's own neuroses. One may psychoanalyze a particular character within a literary work, but it is usually assumed that all such characters are projections of the author's psyche. Like psychoanalysis itself, this critical endeavor seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilt, ambivalence  and so forth within what may well be a dis unified literary work. The author's own childhood traumas, family life, sexual conflicts, fixations, and such will be traceable within the behavior of the characters in the literary work. But psychological material will be expressed indirectly, disguised, or encoded (as in dreams) through principles such as "symbolism" (the repressed object represented in disguise), "condensation" (several thoughts or persons represented in a single image), and "displacement" (anxiety located onto another image by means of association).

PLOT

Aspiring author Eddie Morra (Cooper) is suffering from chronic writer's block, but his life changes instantly when an old friend introduces him to NZT, a revolutionary new pharmaceutical that allows him to tap his full potential. Soon Eddie takes Wall Street by storm, parlaying a small stake into millions. His accomplishments catch the eye of mega-mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro),who invites him to help broker the largest merger in corporate history. But they also bring Eddie to the attention of people willing to do anything to get their hands on his stash of NZT. With his life in jeopardy and the drug's brutal side effects grinding him down, Eddie dodges mysterious stalkers, a vicious gangster and an intense police investigation as he attempts to hang on to his dwindling supply long enough to outwit his enemies.-- (C) Relativity

CRITIQUE:

The merging of brilliant minds in this immensely made film has caught the attention of every audience by its sci-fi thriller genre. It has made people think of what-ifs conclusions. Even I, myself, think of the probabilities if I were on the situation of the main protagonist in the film. It had made me change my impressions on drugs, seriously. This is really a so-so good film that made me ga-ga over. (Okay, I'm being informal now LOL) It blows one's imagination all throughout the movie. Limitless film has the manifestation of the writer's own neuroses. Of course, who would not want 100% full potential working brain of our own? Eddie Morra's behavior in this film ideally depicts psychoanalysis. Neil Burger's film is impeccably projected to author's psyche. The patterns presented are traceable not only to the author but also in everyone's secret unconscious desires in life. Getting high is good as long as you know how to handle yourself.