Visually stunning (A Scanner Darkly (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	A Scanner Darkly (DVD)
Date:	01/07/09 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing visuals, good acting

Disadvantages: Confusing

Richard Linklater is one of the most diverse working directors today, having worked in a wide variety of genres, from coming of age comedy (Dazed and Confused), comic farce (School of Rock), romantic comedy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset), and now a drug thriller in A Scanner Darkly, a little known but supremely entertaining film that boasts outstanding visuals and some solid performances to boot.

As you'll see from the film's poster, the film isn't live action in the traditional sense - it comes from a technique he pioneered on his film Waking Life, called rotoscoping, where a film is filmed in live action, and then drawn over with computers to give a fantastical animated look. It's a unique look that is unmistakable, and works very well considering the film's constantly fleeting notion of reality, underlined by some nifty plot twists in the film's later scenes, and of course, for a film about drugs, where the intention is an escape from reality, it couldn't be any more apt.

The premise revolves around the loss of the drug war in America, and how a highly addictive and debilitating illegal drug called Substance D has taken hold on the country. The government, with increasing desperation, are installing surveillance systems and rallying up informations in order to catch the dealers and stop this epidemic.

For much of A Scanner Darkly you may be pretty confused, but I assure you, it all ties together in the end. Bob Arctor (Reeves) is an undercover police officer that lives with drug users Ernie Luckman (Harrelson) and James Barris (Downey Jr.), who provide the film's main source of humour, with their philosophical (and stoned) discussions about life. Donna Hawthorne (Ryder) plays Arctor's drug peddling love interest also.

Visually elaborate and thematically conscious, Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel is a mind-bending outing that challenges viewers as much as it dazzles them. Certainly compelling, but not always focused.

Summary: A mind bending but rewarding trip