Limit Up

I had the relative misfortune of catching this film one day when I was home with the 'flu. It is virtually devoid of any substance, plot-wise. It's not offensive, just a mind numbingly silly film that seems to utilize every trick of the trade from the 'school of bad 1980's movies'. The only highlight (if you could call it that) was a cameo by musician Ray Charles (and one has to wonder what he's doing in a film such as this.) Avoid at all costs, unless, of course, you are a Ray Charles fan or suffer from chronic insomnia. Half a star out of five.

I enjoyed this morality play where an angel plays "devil's advocate" to make the main character realize that some things are more important than getting rich. I'm not sure why but i picture Bette Midler in the lead and Whoppi Goldberg as the Angel.

Most NOT all but Most so called Good Movies I leave thinking what the hell was that! What did it mean. What were they trying to say. What was the message. I leave most so called Good Movies more confused than words can describe. Granted I am autistic as such lots of what most people do, love and understand including movies usually go right over my head. Hence I am truly blessed when every so often Hollywood let's go of a gem like Limit Up.

This movie is simple with a morality tale of good and evil that is easy to digest and understand. I see so many so called great movies I do not understand for years after I have seen them then suddenly on a long boring trip on the cross town bus I hear fellow passengers talking about the movie describing its meaning in a way I can understand. Once I understand the movie I usually say ewwe, yuck or big deal so what. Must be a normal human thing.

Anyways like I said again this movies plot is not rocket science, its a really cool morality play occurring in the life of a trader on the Chicago Board of Trade commodity futures exchange. She sells her soul to get help being a better trader and is soon tasked to pay up. As the story goes on she learns her lesson. I must admit the very thing most people hated about this story I loved which is it did give me a basic core level understanding of and insight to the world of commodities trading that made me respect the role the Chicago Board of Trade and its activities play in our lives.

Funny thing is I recently visited Chicago and yes because of having seen Limit Up I had to see the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Building which is both huge wide and beautiful. I really enjoyed the movie and worked hard to find it. I finally found Limit Up used on VHS tape at Amazon.com at a cheap price too. You can find almost any movie on Amazon.com in some format. Again this is another case where a movie the Wolf loves the world hates but hey I have long ago accepted that I am a weird ole thing.

Film is a sweet retelling of a stale tale: selling your soul to the devil.. in this case, it's Nancy Allen selling her soul so she can be a successful soybean trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. Cameo by Ray Charles as God is great, and Danitra Vance (from Broadway, since passed away) is terrific as his assistant Nike. Look for great perfs from Dean Stockwell as the nasty boss, and Brad Hall as the quirky boyfriend. Also gives an insiders view of commodity trading. Sort of Wall Street meets Bedazzled.

I wanted to like this movie, but it's rather dull. I'm sure it looked better on paper. The environment of a commodities trading floor just isn't exciting enough to hold my attention...for one thing, I don't understand it. The screenwriters foresaw this problem...and included lots of scenes explaining the soybean trade to me. I became less enthused with each passing minute. The stars, Nancy Allen and Brad Hall, just aren't charismatic enough to carry a film. The girl who plays the Devil in Disguise (Donitra Vance) tries her damnest to liven up the proceedings...but merely becomes annoying. This would have been a much better movie if Dean Stockwell and his beautiful, cunning accomplice were the major stars...instead, they do their best with supporting parts. Only there's nothing here to support.