Sun 16 Jul 2006
Went to see the film “A Scanner Darkly” today. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. Whoa. Great movie. I knew the movie was coming out this week, so I recently re-read the book; I found the movie to be really faithful to the book. 
The movie uses a neat type of animation, “rotoscoping”; it is shot live-action, and then “animated” over that. The effect is really neat – you can definitely tell the “live” actors underneath. It’s especially appropriate for this movie because the plot revolves around a set of people addicted to a (new) drug, called Substance D.
Keanu Reaves plays Bob Arctor in the film; Arctor is an undercover cop, living with a couple of stoners. His girlfriend (Winona Ryder) is his dealer, and he’s basically trying to find out who her supplier is. The problem is Arctor is also taking Substance D (hey, he’s undercover and has to fit in), and it starts to affect his brain.
It’s not an “action” movie – it’s got great dialog, and I found the pace just right. Robert Downey Jr. is over the top as Barris the pseudo-intellectual, and Woody Harrelson is hysterical as Luckman. The scenes involving conversations and interactions between Barris and Luckman are hilarious. But the movie is quite serious. Dick based a number of the characters in the book on the people/friends made during his own drug-experimentation phase.
