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Movie Description
Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's classic novel is a challenging, mind-bending experience that cautions about the dangers of excessive drug use as well as the government's capacity to abuse and manipulate power. Using the same interpolated rotoscoping technique that Linklater employed in 2001's WAKING LIFE, the film is an animated, trippy descent into one man's unraveling mind. Set in the not-too-distant future where a new drug, substance D, has created an epidemic, A SCANNER DARKLY charts the mental unraveling of Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves). Arctor is an undercover cop who has been assigned to track a group of individuals who include the druggily verbose Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), the hyper-intense Luckman (Woody Harrelson), the ultra-paranoid Freck (Rory Cochrane), and the beautiful Donna (Winona Ryder). As the film unfolds and Arctor finds himself abusing substance D in order to maintain his façade, his mind begins to spin out of control, to the point where he doesn't know what's real and what isn't. Eventually, the truth comes out, leaving Arctor even more numbed. Linklater's surprisingly faithful adaptation of Dick's novel blends humor, drama, and Bob Sabiston's striking animation to deliver a thought-provoking film that will leave viewers as dazed as the film's protagonist.
Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 4 -- "One doesn't leave the movie with a mind blown by visual bedazzlement but with a soul shattered by the profound sense of tragedy Linklater and company so beautifully put across."
Premiere - Glenn Kenny (07/01/2006)
3 stars out of 5 -- "Embedded in the visionary headtrip of A SCANNER DARKLY is a hotly political call to arms."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (07/13/2006)
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he animation is at once startlingly realistic and surreal, conveying the story's heightened atmosphere of paranoia."
Box Office - Annlee Ellingson (07/01/2006)
"Mr. Linklater uses the animation technique called rotoscoping to translate Mr. Dick's worldview, mostly to fine expressive effect."
New York Times - Manohla Dargis (07/07/2006)
4 stars out of 5 -- "Linklater's skewed sensibilities interlock lovingly with Dick's paranoid sci-fry..."
Total Film - Mark Samuels (09/01/2006)
"[T]his feature-length hallucination of a flick pulsates with enticing contradictions and wayward logic."
Sight and Sound - Tim Robey (09/01/2006)
4 stars out of 4 -- "[O]ne of cinema's funniest, most frightening, and ultimately most moving meditations on the chemically altered life."
Uncut - Hannah McGill (09/01/2006)
Ranked #12 in Film Comment's "20 Best Films Of 2006."
Film Comment - Film Comment Staff (01/01/2007)
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