A Scanner Darkly (2006) Movie Information:

A Scanner Darkly (2006) Directed by: Richard Linklater A Scanner Darkly (2006) Written by: Richard Linklater A Scanner Darkly (2006) Cast: Rory Cochrane, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder

A Scanner Darkly (2006) U.S. Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures A Scanner Darkly (2006) U.K. Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

A Scanner Darkly (2006) Synopsis:

"A Scanner Darkly" is set in suburban Orange County, California in a future where America has lost the war on drugs. When one reluctant undercover cop is ordered to start spying on his friends, he is launched on a paranoid journey into the absurd, where identities and loyalties are impossible to decode. It is a cautionary tale of drug use based on the novel by Philip K. Dick and his own experiences. Like a graphic novel come to life, "A Scanner Darkly" will use live action photography overlaid with an advanced animation process (interpolated rotoscoping) to create a haunting, highly stylized vision of the future. The technology, first employed in Richard Linklater’s 2001 film "Waking Life," has evolved to produce even more emotional impact and detail.

A Scanner Darkly (2006) Movie Review:

There's a churning passion inside this eerie dramatic thriller, and it really gets under our skin. Linklater has adapted Philip K Dick's ahead-of-its-time 1977 novel into a gripping examination of addiction and politics.

Seven years from now: Bob Arctor (Reeves) may be a drug dealer, but he's also an detective assigned to keep an eye on himself. Since he wears a suit that scrambles his appearance, Bob's cop colleagues don't know who he is. And his junkie pals (Downey, Ryder, Harrelson and Cochrane) don't realise that he spends his days scanning videotapes of their drug-taking and backstabbing. The drug of choice is the addictive Substance D, which destroys any sense of reality and can only be cured at New Path rehab. This only sounds fishy if you're not on D.

Like Waking Life, Linklater filmed the scenes and then painstakingly animated each frame so the movie looks like a shimmering painting. This is animation so detailed that it often feels like heightened reality. The shifting, colourful imagery gives the film a brilliantly surreal tone, allowing Linklater to delve into the characters' hallucinatory perception of the world around them.

This filmmaking style also vividly captures the performances. It's one of Reeves' most involving roles; we intensely experience his disorientation and yearning for a "normal" life, and his reluctance to be used for a purpose outside his control, even though that ultimately may be his salvation. The other characters also register strongly: Ryder's radiant user, Harrelson's hyperactive stoner, Cochrane's hilariously delusional loner and especially Downey's lively, talkative, scene-stealing busybody.

In addition to the film's astonishing visuals (the scramble suit alone is hypnotically gorgeous), the script is packed with jagged humour and astute observations. Several sequences are creepy or scary, while others are riotously funny. All underscored with resonant emotion. As the story progresses, it shifts from a black comedy about junkies to a sinister Clockwork Orange-style thriller and ultimately into a sublime political treatise that makes its point in incredibly subtle ways. Our society has been numbed into oblivion by all kinds of propaganda; maybe this can jolt some of us back to reality.

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

A Scanner Darkly (2006) review written by: Rich Cline