Review of A Scanner Darkly (2006) by Jens S — 02 Jan 2010

Philip K. Dick's stories made for really great films already in the past and although I am not sure how much of the story for Scanner Darkly is actually based on his writings, you notice the themes that would fit into his oeuvre: future government taking control, monitoring suspicious citizens without much of a legal reason needed.

The idea of having a cartoon look drawn over actual actor footage is actually really neat and looks interesting, especially in the few futuristic aspects of the story. Yet the film is strangely split between the interesting and intelligent story of an undercover agent in the drug milieu and the effects and nonsense these drugs are causing.

It's such scenes that remind of "Fear and loathing in las Vegas" and other drug stories, which often cause horrible over acting and actions not comprehensible for the regular viewer. That being said at least Downey Jr.

is as brilliant as always. The ending gets back to the more serious aspect of the story and provides a nice little twist, so the general experience is satisfying. If only they would have cut down on the wanna-be-weird and -funny scenes of the druggies.

Still worth a look.