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Photo © Warner Independent Pictures
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A Scanner Darkly
Live Action Animation
1hr 40 mins.
July 7th, 2006; platforming
MPAA: R for drug and sexual content, language and a brief violent image.
Warner Independent Pictures
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Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane.
Directed By: Richard Linklater
Produced By: Anne Walker-McBay, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith, Erwin Stoff.
Screenplay By: Richard Linklater.Based on Philip K. Dick's novel.
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Reviewed
By: Wellington Lee
Rated 2.72/5
Synopsis:Dir.and live action animator Richard Linklater, stunned and delighted
audiences and critics, with his 2001 live action animation, "Waking Life". "..Life" had a bevy of
supporting characters that helped the protagonist move spritely through the
existential/Jungian/and German philosophers' lingo."A Scanner.." is based closely on Dick's seventies novel, about drug
induced disassociation,paranoia, and double crosses.Set in the near future,undercover cop Det.
Fred aka Bob Arctor(Reeves),is set up in a California tract home, in which hyped up
"cooker"Jim Barris(Downey), spaced Enie Luckman(Woody Harrelson)and skin crawling addict
Frek(Cochrane), make their home and hangout. Bob drifts in and out of reality, popping more
and more of the latest flower to scourge drug,Substance D.Layed back dealer girlfriend
Donna(W.Ryder),untangles the perpetually feuding Enie and Jim, and shows some arc in the final
reveal.Like the novel, Bob agrees to hidden banks of "scanning cameras"(like the title)to
supposedly catch one of his dealer hanger ons. In Kafkaesque mode, he ends up at
headquarters,further disconnected from reality and hooked on "D", watching his own at home,
interactions .
"..Scanner.." feels made for cult status, but is hemmed in, as Linklater ploddingly pays too
close a tribute, to the novel's ripping narrative. The promise of a gifted child of the "Waking
Life" phenomenon,stutters with druggie chatter in static(vs.kinetic, visual) conversations. Bob
and his Det. supervisor are outfitted with disguising "Scramble Suits', which continually
shift the wearer's personna and voice; and give Linklater opportunity to show off the unique,
time intensive (several hundred hours shot per usable hour),interpolated-rotoscoping live
action/animation.
The created backgrounds and interiors enhance the philosophical or paranoid diatribes and
mood.Ulterior motives of some in the government are panned.All principals are cast and perform
pretty close to their acclaimed types.Downey stands out with his rapid delivery of
savant,crazed lines from an amoral outlook.Reeves inhabits Bob with his dejected and loose,
physical acting style. Cochrane is convincing, as the scratching and hallucinating paranoid,
junkie Frek. You may not choose to pass on "A...Darkly", or wait for the DVD,if you like:1) live action
and philosophy mixed with reality disassociation; 2)You are o.k. with drugs and fringe
characters; and 3)you buy into government conspiracy theories,exploiting the common man, for a determined, greater good.
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