''Limit Up'' is a 1989 comedy film starring Nancy Allen as Chicago commodities trader Casey Falls. The film was directed by Richard Martini and produced by Jonathan D. Krane. It was filmed through

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and prominently features scenes at the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), is an American futures exchange, futures and options exchange that was founded in 1848. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

and

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

Rance Howard Rance Howard (born Harold Engle Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who starred in film and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of act ...

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...

, blues icon

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' alumni

Danitra Vance Danitra Vance (July 13, 1954 – August 21, 1994) was an American comedian and actress who was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) during its eleventh season in 1985. Raised in Chicago's South Side, ...

and

Brad Hall William Bradford Hall (born March 21, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1982 to 1984. He was also known for manning the ''Weekend Update'' (then rebranded as ''Saturday Night News'') ...

round out the cast. Additionally, actress

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as List of M*A*S*H characters#Margaret Houlihan, Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S ...

makes a cameo appearance as a

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

John Tesh John Frank Tesh Jr. (born July 9, 1952) is an American musician and radio and television presenter. He wrote the '' NBA on NBC'' basketball theme " Roundball Rock", and hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 20 ...

scored the film.

Plot

Casey Falls works as a runner at the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

for a ruthless commodities broker, Peter Oak. It is her ambition to someday become a top trader herself, but Oak condescendingly insists that Casey will never make the grade. Upset at the lack of opportunities for women, Casey is visited by a spirit, Nike, who angelically gives her tips that result in Casey making millions of dollars for traders like Marty Callahan and

Chuck Feeney Charles Francis Feeney (April 23, 1931 – October 9, 2023) was an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group, the travel retailer of luxury products based in Hong Kong. He wa ...

. In love with her, Marty helps arrange it so that Casey becomes a licensed trader. Her gal pal, (Andy Lincoln) supports Casey's quest to succeed.Before long, with Nike's can't-miss advice, Casey becomes one of the wealthiest women in the business. However, her attitude changes when Nike abruptly goes from angel to devil and decides to coax Casey into monopolizing world markets and earning so much money that it will wreck the economy of others around the globe. Casey openly rebels, with the help of Marty and a street musician, Julius, who is not what he seems.

Cast

* Nancy Allen as Casey Falls *

as Peter Oak *

as Marty Callahan *

as Nike *

as Julius *

as Chuck Feeney * Sandra Bogan as Andy Lincoln * William J. Wolf as Rusty *

Ava Fabian Ava Fabian (born April 4, 1962, in Brewster, New York) is an American model and actress. She was chosen as ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month in August 1986 and has appeared in numerous ''Playboy'' videos. Her centerfold was photographed by Arn ...

as Sasha * Robbie Martini as Oak's Assistant * Teressa Ovetta Burrell as Clerk * Winifred Freedman as Pit Recorder *

Luana Anders Luana Anders (born Luana Margo Anderson; May 12, 1938 – July 21, 1996) was an American actress and screenwriter. Career Anders appeared in a number of low-budget films, including starring roles in '' Life Begins at 17'' and '' Reform School ...

as Teacher * Richard Martini as Student * Kellie Joy Beals as Reporter *

Nicky Blair Nicky Blair's was a high-end Italian restaurant on the Sunset Strip on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, next to Le Dome. It thrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was named after the proprietor, Nicky Blair, a bit-part film actor who starre ...

as Maitre d' *

Force MDs The Force M.D.s are an American contemporary R&B, R&B vocal group that was formed in 1981 in Staten Island, New York. Although the group has old school hip hop roots, it is perhaps best known for their soulful R&B tunes such as "Tender Love," "Lo ...

as Band *

as Nightclub Singer

Critical response

The lighthearted romp received a B+ from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'': "Splendid with good cast, good script, tidy direction" and "Nancy Allen is particularly delightful." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' noted that director Martini succeeds "in making the commodity-market scenes comprehensible for the layman." ''The St. Paul Pioneer Press'' said ''Limit Up'' "can't be faulted for enthusiasm or moxie" and its "strong equality-of-women-in-the-workplace message is welcome". Dually, ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'' was less complimentary: "the picture is as spunky and good-natured as all get out, but in the absence of any original or substantial ideas, its spunk soon grates."
/ref> In his ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' review of Nov. 3, 1989,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

described the film as "witless from one end to another" as well as "lame-brained and cornball".

External links

* *
Limit Up
at

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References

{{Reflist 1989 films 1989 comedy films 1989 fantasy films 1989 independent films 1980s American films 1980s English-language films 1980s fantasy comedy films American fantasy comedy films American independent films Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago Stock trading films Works based on the Faust legend English-language independent films English-language fantasy comedy films