Review of A Scanner Darkly (2006) by Diego T — 17 Feb 2014

Every once in a while, I like to find a movie that almost nobody talks about, just so I can be the first person I know to see it. Does that make me a hipster? Maybe. But fortunately, that also means that I get to see movies like this. A Scanner Darkly, the film based on the Philip K. Dick novel by the same name, is an endlessly inventive and visually deranged film that is utterly beautiful in its insanity. This movie does such weird and awesome things with its simple premise and cartoon flair that you have to wonder why more movies aren't made in this format. They may not appeal to a very wide audience, I suppose, but when you can make crap special effects and pass them off seamlessly with the rest of the film for virtually no budget, you have succeeded as a filmmaker.

A Scanner Darkly is a nihilistic and (as you may have guessed) dark film that takes place "seven years in the future," when the United States is losing the war on drugs and a new drug called Substance D is rampant in society. This highly addictive drug, derived from tiny blue flowers, produces a split personality in its users in which the left hemisphere and right hemisphere of the brain become increasingly disjointed and disconnected from one another. Our hero, Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is one such user whose two personalities couldn't be more opposite. As Fred, he works for the government tracking down users of the drug-- specifically, his other personality, Bob.

I must say, as an aspiring scriptwriter, this is the kind of thing I wish I could come up with. This premise is simple, surreal, futuristic, mysterious, and has massive potential-- all in one. And the things that director David Linklater does with it are endlessly spectacular. Firstly, the film is completely converted into a cartoon, meaning that the actors were first filmed and were then CGd into cartoon characters. This gives the movie an otherworldly quality that contributes greatly to its success. Hallucinatory drug scenes are far better when done like this, and I can't imagine the opening sequence to A Scanner Darkly working as well as it does any other way. Other films such as John Dies at the End and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas would have profited greatly from using this technique. Weirdness has never been this assured.

Reeves, who is famous (or infamous) for his terrible acting, benefits greatly from being turned into a cartoon character. Call me crazy, but his face became far more expressive and his acting improved as a result. Other cast members include Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder (hey look, two of her films in a row, I'm on a roll), all of whom perform admirably, even if they're basically playing themselves. Downey Jr always seems to use the same hand gestures and halting way of speaking no matter what character he's playing, but that doesn't make it any less effective. Harrelson, of course, plays a drug addict with every fiber of his being. "Yeah, but what if they come in through the back door, or the bathroom window like that infamous Beatles song?" Absolutely classic.

A lot of this film's triumphs are owed to its story and visual flair, both of which are as close to perfection as one can get. Some parts of it are a little overly strange (the appearance-changing suits fall into this category), but the movie always pulls out of its occasional nose dives due to its seamless and mesmerizing watercolor-like images and the character's personalities bouncing off of each other. It doesn't work all the time, but it definitely works more than enough, and if you aren't hooked in the first five minutes, you'll be hooked in the first ten. Not to mention the double plot twists at the end (both of which I saw coming, I hate to brag... no, wait, I don't). It's an endlessly inventive movie that will keep your mind engaged, and, failing that, will keep you entertained.

Final Score for A Scanner Darkly: 8/10 stars. A few things hold it back from being a true modern classic, including some storytelling issues and a few counterintuitive directing decisions, but altogether this is a well-written and powerful movie that packs a punch on comedic, visceral, and dramatic levels alike. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's as close as we're going to get to the animated Quentin Tarantino movie we all so desperately want. Bottom line: If you can follow the plot, this movie will blow you away. But if your name is Jed Groff, you should probably stick to The Hobbit.