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Review #186 of 365
Film: A Scanner Darkly [R] 100 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.50
Where Viewed: Esquire Theatre, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 16 July 2006
Time: 3:15 p.m.
Soundtrack: download now from 
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
In a year that many critics are calling, "The Year of the Animated Film", how fitting that Richard Linklater would bring Philip K. Dick's grim look on the near future to the big screen as an animated film specifically for grown-ups using animation techniques similar to that which he used in his ground-breaking animated film Waking Life. Starring Keanu Reeves as Bob Arctor and Fred, the two alter egos of one man, A Scanner Darkly takes us seven years into the future to a time when every single thing that we do can and is recorded by government holographic scanners placed everywhere including our homes. As it happens, we learn quickly that Bob works for a branch of a drug enforcement agency and to protect his identity and privacy from the scanners, he and others in his agency wear suits that prevent the scanners from identifying or recording them. In that capacity, he is known to his superiors as Fred. They do not actually know, or so they claim, nor do they seem to care that he is also Bob Arctor. Sometimes, it isn't clear that he cares. Society has been overrun by a new drug imported and sold by terrorists who then use the money from the sales to support their activities. Sadly, in a very short time period 20% of the population has become addicted to this new drug called Substance D. It is a powerfully addictive, psychotropic drug that doesn't harm you enough to kill you or totally mess up your life, but enough to keep you buying it and out of complete control of your own mind. We first meet Fred when he is giving a speech to the members of the Brown Bear Lodge at one of their meetings. Quickly, we learn that he's not buying most of the stuff in his own speech on how to stop the drug traffic into the country anymore. He starts to digress into unfamiliar territory despite auditory cues he's receiving in his earpiece. This and other evidence causes him to be sent for a psych evaluation. Meanwhile, a corporation called New Path has been created to rehab Substance D addicts. The company has become so powerful that nearly nothing stands in its way, and the people who work for it are never subject to scanning. As for Bob Arctor, when Fred takes off his suit, he is plain old Bob. But Bob is no ordinary guy. He gave up his 'boring' suburban life one day out of aggravation that it was so ordinary, or so he thinks, and now lives in a 'nice' ranch house in Anaheim, CA with a couple of fringe character, drug addicts who've seen some better days when it comes to mental stability. The amount of drugs and alcohol these two, Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson) and James Barris (Robert Downey, Jr.), have consumed over the years is not known, but their behavior would suggest that it is no small quantity. Filling out Arctor's cadre of friends is Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane)—a Substance D dope fiend—and Bob's cocaine-addicted girlfriend, Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder).
"…gnaws away at you, and you cannot escape the notion that this is a completely plausible future world nor the nagging sensation that much of this has already really happened."
The first thing you will notice about the story, the film, the characters, and the dialogue is that Mr. Linklater has created a surreal style for the film that is incredibly unique. At the very beginning of the film, Charles Freck nearly has a nervous breakdown because he feels and sees aphids of all sorts crawling on him, hiding in his hair, and virtually everywhere in his house. He does everything he can to get rid of them, including bathing in insecticide, and nothing works. In a way, the style of the film mimics the feelings of those bugs under Charles's skin in the minds of the viewers. Even though none of it is real, it gnaws away at you and you cannot escape the notion that this is a completely plausible future world nor the nagging sensation that much of this has already really happened. Creepy, harrowing, grim, and dark without glimmers of hope like there was in Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly is full of unexpected twists and turns that keep you hooked until the very bleak ending. If I have a fault it is that I nearly always gravitate toward a happy ending. If not happy, give me at least a taste of something positive to look forward to. This film does not. The last frame flickers leaving many unanswered questions especially regarding the fate of Fred/Bob in specific and society in general. That was disquieting and, yet, in keeping with the mood and tone of the rest of the film.
Evaluating the acting in such a film is tough. This one is easier because the actors are 'cartoonized' and mostly look and feel like themselves. I would say, for the most part, the animators did an incredible job of rendering the real actors into the cartoon world. Meanwhile the actors did a great job with their vocal work as well as their physical work. I was disappointed that Keanu Reeves seemed to be unable to shake his Neo Matrix character when creating Bob. Otherwise, everyone else was right on the money. Woody Harrelson, barefooted and all, was hilarious as Ernie Luckman. Meanwhile, Robert Downey, Jr. brought out the paranoia of a citizen drug addict who will do anything to protect his stash including turning over to the police fake evidence of his best friend showing him making drug deals.
Evaluating the acting in such a film is tough. This one is easier because the actors are 'cartoonized' and mostly look and feel like themselves. I would say, for the most part, the animators did an incredible job of rendering the real actors into the cartoon world. Meanwhile the actors did a great job with their vocal work as well as their physical work. I was disappointed that Keanu Reeves seemed to be unable to shake his Neo Matrix character when creating Bob. Otherwise, everyone else was right on the money. Woody Harrelson, barefooted and all, was hilarious as Ernie Luckman. Meanwhile, Robert Downey, Jr. brought out the paranoia of a citizen drug addict who will do anything to protect his stash including turning over to the police fake evidence of his best friend showing him making drug deals.
" Using this animation technique, Mr. Linklater was able to render a very plausible 'scanner- recorded' film version of the story."
Using this animation technique, Mr. Linklater was able to render a very plausible 'scanner-recorded' film version of the story. Despite the fact that we never really know much about any of the characters, we need to remember part of the point is that when people succumb to a life of drug addiction, what semblance of a real life they once had evaporates leaving behind a shell of their former selves. The film is followed by a list of those friends of the real Philip K. Dick who died or lost themselves from their involvement with drugs in the 1960s. Lately, the problem with drugs and alcohol abuse in the USA has taken a huge back seat to the political troubles of the world. This film comes at the right time to remind us all of the painful problems that LEGAL and ILLEGAL drugs can cause and are still causing in our world despite their glamorization in the media and the various entertainment subcultures of sports, movies, music, and television.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Movies Starring: Keanu Reeves • Robert Downey Jr. • Woody Harrelson
Winona Ryder • Rory Cochrane
Movies Directed by: Richard Linklater
Other Movies based on books by: Philip K. Dick
Books by: Philip K. Dick
| Book | CD Soundtrack | DVD |
| VHS | Related DVD | Related Book |
Review-lite [150-word cap]
In the Year of the Animated Film how fitting that Richard Linklater brings Philip K. Dick's grim look at the future to the screen as an animated film for grown-ups. A Scanner Darkly takes us ahead seven years when everything we do is recorded by government scanners—the reason, they claim, is to protect us from Substance D, a powerfully addictive drug that has swept the nation with 20% of the population becoming addicts. Keanu Reeves plays an undercover drug agent who, in a process too complex to explain here, gets assigned to investigate himself. This is only the beginning of unexpected twists and turns that will gnaw at your conscious mind and keep you hooked until the very end. As drug and alcohol abuse in the USA has taken a back seat to the political problems of the world, this powerfully troubling film comes at just the right time.
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