A Scanner Darkly DVD > Reviews > dont expect scooby doo

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	funny yet dark, superbly made with an excellent script
Disadvantages:	will not be to everyones taste

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I wasn’t looking forward to this film particularly. it was chosen by my resident geek who frequently has an odd taste in movies. Im not a great fan of Keanu Reeves or Winona Ryder and Im also not very keen on animated films (and being told it’s not an animated film, its filmed in Rotoscope doesn’t make much difference!). It’s also a book I’ve read and enjoyed, although quite some time ago, as it’s by an author I like Philip K. Dick and often the films aren’t as good as the book

It’s likely quite a few of you probably enjoy Dicks tales too even though you may not recognize his name. He wrote:
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which Blade Runner was adapted from, starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer
• We Can Remember It for You Wholesale ,which Total Recall was adapted from and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger
• The Minority Report was based on his book by the same name and starred Tom Cruise
• Screamers is based on the short story Second Variety and starred Peter Weller
• Paycheck directed by Jonh Woo starring Ben Affleck and Uma thurman was based on a Dick short story by the same name
• And Nicholas Cage’s film 'Next' that came out last month is also based on a Dick short storycalled the Golden Man

Most of those films have been quite sucessful and some have been quite good so I gave this film a watch and, almost despite myself, really enjoyed it

A Brief synopsis of the story:

Scanner Darkly is set in California in a not too far distant future where America has lost the war on drugs. The most dangerous narcotic, a highly addictive and debilitating illegal drug called Substance D, which at first causes a dreamy state of intoxication with bizarre hallucinations but chronic users develop a split personality, cognitive problems, and severe paranoia.

Keanu Reeves plays, Fred, an undercover police detective who is sent to unravel the manufacture and distribution of substance D. He infiltrates a group of drug users; his undercover persona is Bob, a fellow drug user.

In this paranoid America of the future (!) trust is a luxury and everyone is a suspected criminal until proven otherwise. Because of this paranoia the agents wear a 'scramble suit' which changes the voice and is an ever changing overlay of thousands of people. This makes it is impossible to identify the wearer. Even the police don’t know the real identity of each other for example Fred doesn't know his superior officer's true appearance, their age or their sex

Fred finds he has to start taking substance D to infiltrate the junkies and his developing addiction leads him on a psychotic journey where loyalties, friendship and truth are as hard to identify as identity of the wearer of a scramble suit.

If I go any further into the story I will give away too much to those who haven’t read the book and possibly spoil the film, and those who have read the book already know the tale. I hate personally hate spoilers :)

The supporting cast: Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey, Jr., are all extremely good but Rory Cochrane is outstanding as a brain scrambled junkie and the scene where he finds insects in his dog’s fur is hysterically funny

Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney are among the film's executive producers and it is directed by Richard Linklater

Rotoscoping combines digital action filming with an animation technique using a graphics editing program created by Bob Sabiston known as. Rotoscoping in traditional animation involved tracing over film frame-by-frame. Rotoshop animation, however, makes use of vector frames, and draws in the in-between frames automatically. Each minute of animation required 500 hours of work

Music

The score was provided by composer Graham Reynolds. The composition and recording process took over one and a half years (the unusual time allotment was due to the film's time-consuming animation process) and was done in Reynolds' bedroom. This is not a synthesized score; all the instruments except electric guitar and bass were acoustic, though many were transformed through effects.
Other music featured in the film includes "Black Swan" by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke . other songs by Radiohead, "Skttrbrain (Four Tet Mix)""Arpeggi" "Fog" and "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy", as well as "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" from the album Amnesiac, are also included. The song featured in the original trailer is "Teen Angst" by electronica band M83.

End credits
The end credits list people who have suffered serious permanent physical or mental damage (brain damage, psychosis, pancreatic trauma, etc.) or death as a result of massive drug use. The names are found in the Author's Note at the end of the novel.
The note that Dick wrote to accompany this list is also reproduced in these credits, in which he mourns the list members' deaths and destruction. Dick includes his own name on the list, as a victim of pancreatic .

A combination of the story, the acting, the soundtrack and the animation keep this film enthralling. The screenplay written by Richard Linklater moves this story from the 70’s when it was written into present day language without changing the original story or meanings too greatly. The dialogue between charcters is frequently extremely funny or moving but always interesting and I don’t think the film would have wqorked half so well if it had been filmed in a traditional manner. The animation somehow holds your attention much better than you expect

If you arent sure whether you will like this film or not its worth looking at. IGN to do this as they legally share the first 24 minutes of the film with anyone over 18. If you want to take a look go to http://uk.media.movies.ign.com/media/670/670907/vids_1.html.
Scanner darkly is on the top row. When you click on it you will have to give your age . Then you are free to watch 24 minutes legally. to reiterate this is legal and above board and not filesharing

If you watch it and want to watch the rest of the film you’ll have to nip down to the videoshop and rent it and if you don’t fancy it you’ve lost nothing.
enjoy