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A Scanner Darkly [2006]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Reviews

How well you respond to Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly depends on how much you know about the life and work of celebrated science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. While it qualifies as a faithful adaptation of Dick's semiautobiographical 1977 novel about the perils of drug abuse, Big Brother-like surveillance and rampant paranoia in a very near future ("seven years from now"), this is still very much a Linklater film, and those two qualities don't always connect effectively.

The creepy potency of Dick's premise remains: The drug war's been lost, citizens are kept under rigid surveillance by holographic scanning recorders, and a schizoid addict named Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is facing an identity crisis he's not even aware of: Due to his voluminous intake of the highly addictive psychotropic drug Substance D, Arctor's brain has been split in two, each hemisphere functioning separately. So he doesn't know that he's also Agent Fred, an undercover agent assigned to infiltrate Arctor's circle of friends (played by Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane, and Robert Downey, Jr.) to track down the secret source of Substance D. As he wears a "scramble suit" that constantly shifts identities and renders Agent Fred/Arctor into "the ultimate everyman," Dick's drug-addled antihero must come to grips with a society where, as the movie's tag-line makes clear, "everything is not going to be OK."

While it's virtually guaranteed to achieve some kind of cult status, A Scanner Darkly lacks the paranoid intensity of Dick's novel, and Linklater's established penchant for loose and loopy dialogue doesn't always work here, with an emphasis on drug-culture humor instead of the panicked anxiety that Dick's novel conveys. As for the use of "interpolated rotoscoping"--the technique used to apply shifting, highly stylized animation over conventional live-action footage--it's purely a matter of personal preference. The film's look is appropriate to Dick's dark, cautionary story about the high price of addiction, but it also robs performances of nuance and turns the seriousness of Dick's story into... well, a cartoon. Opinions will differ, but A Scanner Darkly is definitely worth a look--or two, if the mind-rattling plot doesn't sink in the first time around. --Jeff Shannon


by and for people who think
Review date: 2008-08-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

Hollywood loves Dick, and that's a fact. Philip K. Dick, that is: whenever the powers that be require a sound sci-fi brain scratcher, they turn to the pages of special K. The man behind Total Recall, Minority Report and the more than slightly less impressive Paycheck, Phil is the go-to guy for short tales of paranoia, future dystopia and drug abuse, with A Scanner Darkly representing only his second full novel to be adapted into a movie (the first being "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" which resulted in the mighty Blade Runner). At the helm is another Dick, Richard Linklater, one of the slipperiest directors working today, a man who simply refuses to be pigeonholed, but who is as yet unproven in the sci-fi genre.

Finally, Dick gets a film worthy of his talent. Unlike Blade Runner, which removed so many parts of the novel's original plot as to be almost unrecognisable, A Scanner Darkly is pure Dick. It's very possibly the best sci-fi movie since the Golden Summer of 1982, even if the actual sci-fi element is (in practical terms) almost invisible, like Dick it explores the world of the hypothetical as if it were an alien landscape.

We're first introduced to undercover government agent Fred (Reeves) as he speaks to a boardroom full of executives about the dangers of Substance D, the drug of choice for the junkie of tomorrow. Hiding behind his multi-faced Scramble Suit to protect his identity, Agent Fred reads an uninspiring speech on the perils of drug abuse, although the manner in which he delivers it suggests that he doesn't completely agree; a user himself, Fred is far from being awarded Employee of the Month. Out of his suit, Fred is everyman Bob Arctor, and when he's spied talking to his dealer girlfriend Donna (Ryder) over the phone, surveillance is organised for an agent to infiltrate his group of friends and weed out any potential addicts and abusers. Selected for the task is one Agent Fred, his superiors apparently unaware that Fred and Bob are one and the same. In a world where identity is blurred and the conspiracy nuts are more often proved right than wrong, Bob begins to question his sanity as his world falls apart at the seams.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't meant they're not out to get you. The narrative twists and turns through a series of scenes in which very little actually changes and the story barely advances. The point of this journey is not to arrive, but to enjoy the sights on the window on the road to nowhere. And, like many Hollywood movies, you suddenly realise that you've been stung with a devious plan far bigger than all you have seen.

Keanu plays his usual typecast role (a confused stoner hunk), whilst the ensemble cast of Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey also play to type; Woody Harrelson as Owen Wilson's Pothead Dad, and Robert Downey Jr. as a babbling mess of nerves. Large portions of the film appear to do little more than merely record their paranoid and drugged up logic; these are people who have taken far more than a joint too far. Downey in particular demonstrates why he's the most under-rated actor in the world - I could easily watch an entire film of his character giving a monologue and enjoy it more than any other film; he's a verbose walking Encyclopaedia Paranoia topped off with an imagination only matched in grandeur by Dick's. In a just world, Downey would carry off a trophy in the Spring.

Unlike every other Dick adaptation, A Scanner Darkly is scant on chases and flying astroships, choosing to explore the uncharted regions of the mind and leaving the explosions to the more cerebrally challenged. The rotoscope animation technique is consistently breathtaking and genuinely stylish throughout, fitting with the themes of drug-addled confusion and identity perfectly. As Arctor stares at his superior's Scramble Suit, taking dozens and dozens of different identities within a matter of seconds, it's not difficult to see how even the most sound minds can go off the rails. Is it style over substance? Surely identity could be protected just as easily with a Tescos carrier bag over the head? Occasionally you might get the feeling you're being hypnotised, but nonetheless it does have the stones to tackle themes and issues that are all too often swept under the multiplex carpet. In short, A Scanner Darkly is a must for fans of films made by people who think, for people who think, and that's as rare a commodity as you'll find these days.

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Reviews


Worthy attempt but lost me eventually.
Review date: 2008-07-17 Rating: 6 out of 10

I think to get the most out of this movie, you either need to be a class A drug user or a big fan of Phillip K Dick. However I really wanted to like this film, and for sure the rotoscoping is some of the highest quality rotoscoping you're ever likely to see. To be fair, the performances are also faultless, even Keanu was suited to his role for once.
The problem's with the premise... like many films about drug abuse, the plot falls victim to it's own hallucinations until you almost loose track of what's real and what's not yourself. Trouble is at that point, it ceases to be a plot and becomes a bit of a meandering shambles.
The trippy rotoscoping and expressionless voices also had a sophoriphic effect and halfway in I found myself drifting into a matchsticks under the eyelids style stupor, no drugs required. I still only have the vaguest idea what was going on... I sense the message could've been summed up in 30 minutes and was dragged out for 2 hours, i.e Drugs mess you up and the government is probably spying on you and supplying the drugs they claim not to approve of, or maybe it's just your drug induced paranoia.

Bugs
Review date: 2008-05-12 Rating: 8 out of 10

I guess some people could come to this film thinking, Keanu Reeves + Science Fiction = Action picture. It's not. It's closer to an Indie sensibility, and probably one of the best things that has happened to Sci Fi cinema in a long time, because it actually does something intelligent.

Of course, the reason it is so intelligent is that it follows Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name (okay so that means Hollywood is now only 40 years behind literary sf) which is based on Dick's own experiences with counter culture and his time spent amongst drug addicts in suburban America. As such the whole thing is slightly trippy, hence the use of rotoscope to deliver the sense of unreality experienced by addicts, dealing with shifting reality and shell games (all is not as it seems) amongst normal blue collar stock. Reeves plays Bob Arctor, a narcotics officer whose true identity is hidden from everyone so that he can effectively infiltrate a ring of users that may lead him to a big dealer. Unfortunately, Arctor is an addict himself and his superiors (who don't know who he is) suspect him of being part of the problem. So begins the sense of paranoia.

Much of the film is spent detailing the interactions of the group of stoners, much of it self-destructive, and has some pretty funny but sad performances by Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder. And that sets the tone. The film is by turns funny and tragic, much like the source novel, with a big reveal at the end that is, in its way, slightly optimistic.

So it's not a classic, and if you're just wanting escapism this probably doesn't have enough explosions, but what it is is a damn fine film and good step forward. And it's probably the most loyal Philip K. Dick adaptation ever. (Let's face it, Blade Runner was not Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep, no matter how good it was.)

As a visual piece it's stunning, however the story doesn't engage.
Review date: 2008-05-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

I absolutely love the visual style of this film, and it's a shame that since it's release not more films have used the effects. However I hate to say it, but once again Reeves' performance is a weak link in the film. The scene stealing goes to Robert Downy Jr who is fantastic in his role and provides most of the films interesting plot points.

The story failed to engage me, as it felt like a rehash of various other drug related films mashed up with some modern Orwellian crime vision. Think, Fear and Loathing meets Minority report and your part way to being as perplexed as ever. It's not a bad film at all, I enjoyed watching it, however I can guarantee that in a month's time I won't really remember, nor care, about this film.

Worth a rental, and great as an experimental piece, but lacks staying power.

A scanner closely
Review date: 2008-05-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

All in all, this is one of the better film adaptations of Dick's work, although probably for aficionados only; the uninitiated would almost certainly be confused and exasperated.

It follows the novel closely, and the rotoscoping is effective and unsettling, especially when depicting Arctor's 'scramble suit'. But the animation is, oddly, let down by the acting; Rory Cochrane is over-the-top as Freck, and Barris, whilst suitably sinister, is often unintelligible thanks to Downey's rapid, mumbled delivery. Keanu Reeves puts in a solid, tortured performance, and we warm to Winona Ryder's Donna as the film progresses.

But somehow the film fails to successfully capture Arctor's growing paranoia and his tenuous hold on reality, or the hopelessness felt by all the characters as they wander, drug-addled, though a surreal Californian suburban landscape.

Dick has not been well served by Hollywood. Even Blade Runner only scratched the surface of the complex novel on which it was based, and others, like Total Recall or Paycheck, come nowhere close. Minority Report was surprisingly faithful to Dick's short story, although lost several brownie points for (a) starring Tom Cruise; and (b) a predictable dose of Spielberg sentimentality at the end.

One day, maybe, someone will make a film of a PKD novel which actually works, one which captures the freewheeling weirdness of his plots, without losing their humour and essential metaphysical content - Ubik, possibly, or even Palmer Eldritch. But I'm not holding my breath.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Winona Ryder
Rory Cochrane
Keanu Reeves
Mitch Baker
Robert Downey Jr.

Creators:
Keanu Reeves (Primary Contributor)
Winona Ryder (Primary Contributor)
Richard Linklater (Writer)
Anne Walker-McBay (Producer)
Ben Cosgrove (Producer)
Erin Ferguson (Producer)
Erwin Stoff (Producer)
George Clooney (Producer)
Philip K. Dick (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900594189
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2007-01-22
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 120 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006-08-18
Language: English (Original Language)

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