A Scanner Darkly

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama, Action
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Keanu Reeves) is working undercover to infiltrate a group of friends all taking a dangerous drug. The drug is also having terrible effects on him, causing him to lose his grip on reality.

Review:

Tim: Oftentimes, the most visually stunning movies are somewhat lacking on the plot. As in those cases, this film looks incredible, but feels as if more time was spent on getting the animation right than on writing a very good movie. To be fair, the plot is decent, but not good by any stretch fo the imagination. I believe some of the disconnect comes from the transition from Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical novel (which I understand is very good) to the script for this movie.

Keanu Reeves is good, but that's to be expected. He's played these sci-fi roles enough at this point to be able to draw on his experience. His scramble suit prevents us from seeing Reeves even more, which I would have liked to see. Robert Downey, Jr. is decent in his quick-paced, dialogue-rattling-off, unconventional role. Winona Ryder is decent as Reeves' love interest, but not great. Woody Harrelson doesn't have much to do, but he does attack the role with energy. As a whole, the cast is fairly ineffective.

The real star here is the stunning animation. The characters all look unbelievably realistic, surprisingly like the actors playing them. The film does look incredible.

The whole drug culture plot just didn't work for me. The concept isn't what I like in movies, and the drug jokes just didn't seem funny. The plot is confusing and twisting, but by the time the real revelations occur, we've lost most of our enthusiasm. The movie has a hard time holding our interest. Tje animation is stunning, but the film is not. I really can't recommend this film except to the most die hard fans of the genre.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Matrix, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang