A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Director: Richard Linklater
Venue: Theater
Starring: Wynona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson
Trailer

A Scanner Darkly, if you haven’t seen the trailers, is a movie that was filmed with real actors, and digitally animated over the footage. The technique has been used before in a movie called Waking Life and in a few investment firm commercials. Initially, it takes some getting used to, as the motion on the entire screen is very unusual. The movie was based on a book by a prominent science fiction author; Philip K. Dick. He also penned amazing novels like Blade Runner and Minority Report.

Bob Arctor(Keanu Reeves) is an under cover drug enforcement agent. He remains anonymous to his employers by way of a special suit that displays constantly shifting human images. Before going out into the field, he sheds the futuristic suit and shows his true face to the odd band of drug addicts that he’s infiltrated. It becomes clear very quickly that he is too caught up in his own, personal drug addiction, to operate much longer as an effective agent, let alone a functioning individual. The two hemispheres of his brain no longer have the synapses required to communicate with each other, which eventually leaves him with a bizarre dementia (a.k.a. perma-trip). If you’ve had enough experience with psychoactive substances, A Scanner Darkly might just give you a few unpleasant flashbacks. Although the film is set in the future, it isn’t so alien as to separate itself from the audience.

Plot: 4 stars

If Keanu Reeves hadn’t done Constantine, I might completely deplore him as an actor. Someone I do thoroughly detest is Wynona Ryder. Unfortunately, A Scanner Darkly features them both (shudder). It’s a good thing that the cast is of the “all-star” variety. Two prominent names that leap to mind are Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson. For a movie that only showed at the local art-houses, the script and the director packed enough credentials to draw the big money makers. That’s got to say something in and of itself. The group of people that Arctor has become involved with are all very, very believable drug users. If you’ve lived that lifestyle at one point or another, you probably know/knew guys just like these.

Acting: 4 ½ stars

A Scanner Darkly doesn’t have much in the way of action to speak of. There are a few moments of tension here and there, but nothing explosive.

Action: 1 star

What the movie lacks in action is made up for in visual effects. The entire film is basically one huge special effect. I like the direction that A Scanner Darkly and movies/commercials of its kind take in animation. The technique is still fairly new and unused, so it’s not as tiresome as a completely CGI film. It does, however, make me kind of queasy. For a drug movie, it’s just the perfect format.

Visual: 4 ½ stars

A Scanner Darkly is driven secondly by dialogue. Without it, Arctor’s failing grasp on sanity would not be nearly as apparent. The other characters wouldn’t be nearly as convincing either. And if it were a silent film, there would be hardly any way of following the plot. So, this movie’s dialogue is indispensable.

Dialogue: 4 ½ stars

The main reason why I won’t be rushing out to get A Scanner Darkly as soon as the DVD is released is that it left me in a miserable head-space.

Alternate viewing choice: Waking Life
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Rotten Tomatoes review

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