Where is The Story-Line? (A Scanner Darkly (DVD))

Member Name: katygriff

Product:	A Scanner Darkly (DVD)
Date:	25/03/07 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None.

Disadvantages: Everything.

I am always one for giving absolutely any film a go and especially those that look a little bit different from the normal drivel we get coming through. This is why when I saw the trailer for a scanner darkly I thought this looks a new concept for a film and the animation I have to say looked pretty spot on and so different to what you usually see in film. I decided it didn’t look good enough to rush out and buy but renting it was definitely a good option so a couple of weekends ago me and my sister sat down to watch it and what a truly rubbish film it was.

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The Film:

We are taken into an apartment of a guy (Charles) who is covered with bugs writhing all over him. He is desperately trying to brush them off him, his dog and his apartment. The second they get off him though the next second and they are back. He is panicking about it and looks to be constantly hallucinating.

We are then taken to a conference in which the guest speaker is Bob Arctor who is covered in a body suit which constantly changes his appearance so he is not caught out by cameras. He is an undercover cop who looks out for people taking drugs. A new drug called substance D is out in force on the streets of L.A and with everybody being curious it is getting to be a problem.


Verdict on the Story:

To be honest this is all I can tell you about the story as you do not really get much more from the film. What I found annoying is that the film begins and within ten minutes you are bored because nothing much has gone on and the script is so monotonous and is very uninteresting. The problem is that the story does not really kick off until a good 45 minutes into the film so by this point you are really ready to turn the film off.

The actual concept of the film is extremely good in my opinion as the fact they have done this very clever animation which looks amazing is brilliant but I think they have concentrated a lot on how it looks as they can get a lot more in the film with managing to do everything animated than they have with the story. The characters seem like they have no depth but I do think the problem is that the script is not engaging enough.

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Cast and Characters:

Keanu Reeves – Bob Arctor
Rory Cochrane – Charles Freck
Winona Ryder – Donna Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson - Ernie Luckman
Robert Downey Junior – James Barris


Verdict on the Cast and Characters:

The cast is absolutely superb with a lot of well known people in the lead and supporting roles. With regards to the characters I do thin they made good choices as Keanu is exactly the type of brooding but slightly dangerous character that Bob is. I didn’t especially like any of the cast in their roles but I think it is interesting to see them all in animated form.

The characters on the other hand I did not like at all as they annoyed me so much purely because they were not very strong and made the film duller than it already was. They had no background and thanks to the script you didn’t really get any feel for how they are thinking. I also found that they were unbelievable and didn’t get over any urgency in the film considering the topic. I don’t think any of them are memorable at all but it is all down to the script not being up to scratch in my opinion.

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Things to Know:

Price - £11.98 from Amazon
Certificate – 15
Runtime – 120 minutes
1 Disc DVD

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Special features:

There is a directors commentary on here but to be honest I only watched ten minutes and it was quite interesting to hear how he wanted the film to look and be but I had just hated the film so didn’t want to listen to him for another two hours. There is a trailer which is pretty standard and then there is a feature about how it was filmed which I enjoyed as I loved the concept of doing real life animation.

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Verdict:

I just really didn’t like this film which is a real shame as I thought I was going to enjoy it. My sister felt the same as me as she thought it had no defined story and that it was lacking a script which grabbed your attention immediately and constantly. I think that the fault lies that it is a very slow moving film and yes the animation looks amazing but without the script and characters to match the film just doesn’t work.

My overall impression of the film is that it is very messy with so many loose ends not being tied up and I just think they have jumbled up the story and it just doesn’t work. The characters needed to have evolved more instead of just being there to watch they needed to come out as strong but they are even weaker than the story. It is a shame but one of the most interesting looking films for a while has turned out so badly.

In conclusion I have to give this DVD one measly star as I really did hate it. It is one of those films that afterwards I sat there thinking I have truly just wasted a couple of hours of my life and if I am to confess I did forward the film at certain parts just to make it go by quicker. The features are small but enjoyable I suppose but the main feature is so bad I would not waste my money or time giving it a go. You have been warned.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

Summary: Boring and No Point to it.