End of Limitless

There is much debate and confusion over what Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper) said in Mandarin to the Chinese waiter at the end of Limitless (2011). Apparently, Bradley Cooper's Mandarin is largely unintelligible to Mandarin speakers, but after studying many comments online, reviewing Chinese subtitles, and researching Mandarin vocabulary, it is becoming clear that Eddie Morra and the waiter were joking with each other using two plays on words. The problem is--due to cultural differences--people who understand Mandarin probably do not understand the full intent of the humorous exchange, and people who might understand the full intent of the exchange do not understand Mandarin. Of course, the poor Mandarin pronunciations are compounding the misunderstandings dramatically. The result is that no one--seemingly in the entire world--is getting the joke. Here is an approximation of what was most likely said at the end of Limitless. (Note to all the Mandarin speakers: This is not a verbatim translation, which would be awkward in English. This is an interpretation of Mandarin that native English speakers should be able to understand properly in context.) Eddie Morra: "I will have noodles, two scallion pancakes, and lobster with no MSG (weijing)." Chinese Waiter: "But a scarf (weijin) will protect your clothes." Eddie Morra: "But it won't help with my dirty hands." The first joke here is in the Mandarin pun. The Mandarin word for MSG (weijing) is similar to a Mandarin word for scarf (weijin), which could conceivably be used to describe a lobster bib. (Note: In America, people commonly wear bibs while eating lobsters to protect their clothes from all of the juices that shoot out when cracking open shellfish. Americans sometimes refuse to wear the lobster bibs, because the bibs look tacky.) When Morra asked to have lobster with no MSG, the waiter joked with him using a play on the words for MSG/scarf (weijing/weijin), explaining he should not refuse the scarf (lobster bib) because it will protect his clothes. Morra then joked the bib will do nothing for his dirty hands. This was a witty response to the waiter, but it has a deeper meaning. "Dirty hands" is a very common expression in English that insinuates one has figuratively gotten one's hands dirty from doing dirty deeds in the past. The irony here is that Morra was about to enter politics, and he had to do some dirty deeds in the past to rise to his level of success. Yes, Morra can eat his expensive dinner and enjoy his wonderful life, but he will be doing so with dirty hands. This joke revealed Morra was happy with his life but was not denying his considerable flaws and unfair advantages. If that is truly what was said between the Chinese waiter and Morra, it was a good note on which to end Limitless. It is very unfortunate the director, Neil Burger, did not force Bradley Cooper to practice speaking Mandarin phonetically until he spoke the words clearly. If properly executed, that final exchange could have been an excellent moment in the movie and a clever conclusion to an interesting plot.

This ending is perfect. Eddie has a four digit IQ, it's obvious that he would simply fix the NZT side effects himself. And as for Carl, respect to his character for backing off and choosing to not fight a far superior opponent.

Let's face it, you're here to watch the better ending(again)

wouldnt it have been awesome if the waiter had given him a dirty look and said "I'm from New York"

It would have been awkward if the waiter says "I don't speak Chinese sir"

Robert De Niro is such a great actor. After Eddy threatens Carl, you can see him go from threatening to shaken and nervous, whilst wearing basically the same expression.

You just came to watch this after seeing the alternative ending. How did i know? I'm always 1 step ahead of you.

Forget the ending, we're all here wishing that in some alternative universe, we'd be the one with that pill!

So let me get this straight. Eddy not only improved NZT, he made a version that doesn't have negative side effect but allows him to keep some of the effects even when off it? He also has 4-5 labs AND it heightens his senses to almost supernatural levels? Awesome.

This ending is so much better :)

I'm almost offended that they even considered the alternate ending version

"What van?"....bang "I see everything carl"....carl thinking "holy shit, this dude didn't even break eye contact, im not even in the same league as this guy"

We humans think likely. All of us came here right after we watched that weird alternate ending.

I'm fifty steps ahead of you, I can see everything... I know you clicked that alternative ending and came here to see the better ending... But you already knew that.

This movie is criminally underrated.

Based on kenwalker7550's astute analysis of the ending scene, I have concluded that this is the character and phonetic breakdown of what Bradley Cooper's conversation was with the waiter: BRADLEY COOPER Traditional Characters: "炸醬麵, 兩個蔥油餅, 在加小龍蝦. 千万不要給我味精." Phonetic: Zhá jiàng miàn, liǎng gè cōng yóubǐng, zài jiā xiǎo lóngxiā. Qiān wàn bùyào gěi wǒ wèijīng. English Translation: Beijing fried noodles, 2 scallion pancakes, then add crayfish. Absolutely do not give me MSG. WAITER Traditional Characters: "圍巾會保護你的衣服" Phonetic: Wéijīn huì bǎohù nǐ de yīfú English Translation: The bib will protect your clothes. BRADLEY COOPER Traditional Characters: "但是不會保護我兩髒手" Phonetic: Dànshì bù huì bǎohù wǒ liǎng zāng shǒu English Translation: But it won't protect my two dirty hands.

He knew he would have this conversation like three days ago. Smh.

I wish the tv show got a second season, it started off rough but I got immersed by the end and I loved that it was expanding into being a sequel to the movie.

I prefer this ending to the other where the encounter only then makes him realize that he needs to wean off the drug.

Gotta respect Carl. He's achieved the kind of money, power, and ruthlessness that Eddie only achieved by using NZT.