Pros
• the animation style and visuals is outstanding and unique
• great opening sequence
• Robert Downey Jr. & Woody Harrelson are a riot
• better than Waking Life in every aspect

Cons
• disappointing execution given the calibre of talent involved
• dull, dragging, and unsatisfying story
• the "serious" dialogue was incredibly boring and non-thought-provoking
• the score (not Radiohead's, as reported online?) leaves much to be desired

Overall it was slow and not really worth watching, despite the ultra-cool, semi-realistic animation. C+

Wow - this one was pretty darn far out there, man!

A drug that splits your personality into an addict and a narc. That story, while philosophical and very funny was just a bit too overcomplicated for it's own good, and although not up to the stellar heights of Linklater's recent Waking Life or Before Sunset, it's still a movie definitely worth seeing...

4 out of 5.

(I'm goin' watch this one again...)

I would say that it's "uncompelling," but it's not really even that -- it's just boring.

Scene after scene, Linklater tries to establish this world of mass addiction, and while he is successful in doing so, I think, the characters he depicts in this envioronment are devoid of any of the interest I would have rather seen devoted to the state of the world itself.

Keanu plays Keanu (with accompanying shape-shifting suit that gets old fast), Harrelson and Downey, Jr. -- who plays the same sort of fast-talking oaf he did so well in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang -- are unfunny and slow the story with every scene in which they appear, and Ryder is just a bit of a throwaway here.

The story, though, is just languid, with lots of scenes of either characters conversing in a drug-induced haze, philosophizing in a drug-induced haze, or being confused, not unlike me during probably 3/4 of the film.

The story doesn't take off, in fact, until the last 5 minutes or so of the film, when we realize the circumstances of Bob's situation and the motivations of Donna.

And even that isn't really that interesting.

C-

Great movie. I enjoyed the Sci-Fi/horror type feel in some scenes. The music was great too. A

Fantastic film. It's beautiful. Every film should be rotoscoped (or tever it is). It's engaging like few others. Linklater sure knows how to pick em (or write em, or direct em), I get lost in his worlds so completely and wonderfully. Even his exposition (of which there is far too much - by normal standards) feels natural and real and I don't care that he is spelling it all out for me. And I couldn't possibly call it boring...it's kinda standard "big brother anti-drug" fare, I guess, but it's presented in such away with enough substance that it keeps you guessing and waiting and engaged...or it did me, anyway. It just flows; the pace, the story, the characters, dialog, all fit this style so perfectly. I was left with very, very little to complain about.

All that, and I forgot to mention that it's absolutely hilarious at times.

Do you ever feel like you're being watched? In A SCANNER DARKLY, Richard Linklater's new Sci-Fi/Drama, is about a world only six years from now that is addicted to a drug called Substance D. Keanu Reeves plays Bob, a shape-shifting (of sorts) man who tells people about this intoxicating drug. He leads a double life, when he isn't telling people about the drug Substance D, he is hanging out with his girlfriend Donna (Winona Ryder), his best buddy Ernie (Woody Harrelson), the drug addict Charles (Rory Cochrane), and another one of his friends James (Robert Downey Jr). When they're all together, they're smoking pot, sniffing coke and taking Substance D.

One of the best things about this film are the random bits of humor it offers. This is a very serious film, but before it gets too serious (and sometimes while it's being serious) it offers some great comedic scenes. Woody Harrelson shines as Ernie, he steals every scene he's in. The scene with the bike is absolutely hilarious, and one of the best scenes of the year thus far. Keanu Reeves bugged me as Bob, and when I walked out of the film, he's what I disliked the most about the film. Then I thought about it for a few days and he actually turned out a great performance. To me, at first look, I just didn't get the performance. Both the film, and the performance, need to soak in for a couple of days until you form a great opinion of what you witnessed. Winona Ryder also impressed me as Bob's girlfriend, who won't let him sleep with her. It was nice seeing her back, the last film to my knowledge that she was in was MR. DEEDS, and that didn't exactly show her acting talents, but this did. Especially at a certain scene near the end. She gives one of the best supporting female performances of the year. The rest of the cast is great, Robert Downey Jr. is good as one of Bob's friends. He has a few memorable scenes (the gun, and the car scene especially) and at times, he was a riot to watch. Charles, played by Rory Cochrane was great too. I loved the bug scene (it's not really a bug scene, but if I say too much about it, I'll ruin the scene) and the opening credits. He's was also hilarious at times.

I've been anticipating this film for such a long time. I remember seeing the trailer, what seems like years ago, and I couldn't wait to see it. I was expecting a fun, entertaining flick. For the most part, that's what I got. I also got something I wasn't expecting; a truely depressing, unforgetable, mind blowing experience. There were a couple scenes at the end (and the credits as well) that nearly had me in tears. The only problem I really have with the film, is that it is a bit too long in the middle, and could've been cut about five minutes. I don't really think I could recommend this film to many people, on the way out of the theater (which was about 70% full in a 169 seat theater) many said it was confusing, boring, and they just didn't like it. It's definitely not for the mainstream. It's a movie for "smart people" and definitely people with an attention span, and people who don't mind the animation style.

9/10 (A-)

I agree with your last statements. The film is the epitome of independent. We aren't talking about Pirates 2 here. Its my cup of tea and I enjoyed every minute of it. I have to say though, where I saw it everyone seemed rather up beat about it and enjoyed it. Not too many "confused" were in attendence.

Most of the people that were in attendance were teenagers, for some reason. Not bashing teens, I'm one myself. I just don't think they realized what they were going to be seeing.

I can't possibly think of what is mind-bending in A Scanner Darkly that isn't covered in other recent sci-fi films better (yeah yeah, Dick is the template but that doesn't give this film a passing grade). In fact, it seems to be a generic template of a near future under a small totalitarian regime, governed by shadowy government figures, blah blah blah. I kept waiting for Linklater to get to the point and say something profound, even if it is cliche, but he never manages to do... much of anything.

Sure, there are government spies in the midst of the "group" of druggies in the film, but we know about it, so we don't fear that the cops are going to beat down the door at any minute. So instead, we spend the entire mid-span of the movie with some supporting characters who have little or no narrative arc, and watch their "adventures" in the drug induced lifestyle. Sure there are "events", an attempted sucide, choking to death, small paranoia about a bicycle and it's missing parts, but nothing really leads anywhere or has any consequence, since the real "plot" of this pieces takes place both before and after the events of the film. Keanu's characters is nothing more than a rat in the cage and in the end, you feel a bit treated.

Surprisingly, Keanu fairs well this part, and is believable as a cop, able to switch gears effectively. I also thought Winonna Ryder was great. The other three primary characters played by RDJ, WH and some other guy... they just sound like they are written from the same voice with an allllllllllllllllllll too ironic tone. They never feel real like Keanu/Winonna.

The animation is fine but after awhile you start wondering what the point of it is. Aside from the suits and a small scene involving the afterlife, there's really absolutely no need for the animation... it doesn't take weird camera angles to extreme, and after 20 minutes you realize that it might just be easier to watch the live action film that's buried beneath all that ink.

The plot doesn't genuinely kick in substantially until the last 5 minutes of the film. There are easily 45 minutes which could be cut out of the movie without cutting out anything significant to the plot (being that most of the primary plot points are told to us... like Keanu thinks Winonna is "his girl" and she doesn't like to fuck).

So meh. Pretty disappointed.

It's not a smart film, it's not a smart movie for "smart" people, it gives you everything at face value. Did anybody here not think that New Life was involved in the conspriacy from the moment it was mentioned? In fact in the first 20 minutes the characters are talking about it *as a conspiracy*.

The film would have been better if there was a separation between Fred and Richard, and that the reveal of Fred would have been a little more shocking maybe. It would require a story re-shuffling, but it would give the story a bit more purpose in my opinion.

Another entry into the Philip K. Dick catalogue of paranoid conspiracy thrillers in dark near-futures, which I just happen to love. There's not a whole lot new in basics, even if there are some innovative sections (the shape-shifting suit in particular), but it manages to remain interesting. Though the plot never really gets going until the very end, it never really bothered me, as I was just engrossed with the characters and the dialogue. There is some great banter between Downey Jr. and Harrelson that really drives most of the movie. And, when it gets down to the plot, the final twist is surprising, even if the ones preceding it were kinda obvious. The acting was surprisingly good, as Keanu was at least decent. All in all, a flawed but interesting film.

All other things aside, I would still love this film based solely on the visuals. I just really, really dug the animation style. I can't get over how cool it looks. Had this film been plain live action, I doubt I would have liked it as much. But, because of the innovative style, it's one of my favourites of the year.

I'd like to agree with what has been said before, it's very uncompelling and boring. It's very unfortunate as the movie could have been very different. There are a lot of unnecessary scenes which add to the fact that the viewer is never engaged in the plot, never really intrigued by the characters. I was quite disappointed, although the actors did a good job, especially Robert Downey Jr. and Keanu Reeves. C/C- for the effort.

Not the best Dick adaptation as there is a lot of grey that remains unconclusive but it is solid by the acting talent all around, except Keanu who plays the same role in every movie, but he was still watchable.

The style is great and I was laughing throughout and engaged in the story. I've never seen a movie like this and it was very entertaining. I'd give it a A-

Philip K Dick film adaptations

Bladerunner, Minority Report- A+
Total Recall- A
A Scanner Darkly A-
Imposter- C+