A Scanner Darkly follows Bob Arctor, played by Keanu Reeves, who is an undercover cop assigned to survey himself in this dystopian sci-fi. A Scanner Darkly depicts Arctor and his friends Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), Luckman (Woody Harrelson), and Donna (Winona Ryder) as they spiral deeper into drug induced paranoia.
Philip K. Dick’s novel A Scanner Darkly was published in 1977. Almost 30 years later, Richard Linklater turned his novel into a movie. Philip K. Dick has many popular adaptations like Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report. Philip K. Dick’s books can be a lot to tackle. Ridley Scott, who directed Blade Runner, says of the source novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? “It’s so dense, by page 32 there’s about 17 story lines.” Linklater, who adapted A Scanner Darkly, did a great job of collecting what Dick was conveying in his novel while making it flow easily into a cinematic narrative.The movie is actually mostly accurate, to my suprise, and the memorable scenes from the book (for me, it was when the main characters argue over a bike and how many gears it has), transfer easily to an on-screen dynamic. A Scanner Darkly’s animation stands out. It is very unique and jarring at first. The rotoscoping is almost distracting, but ultimately, it gives it the dystopian feel that the movie would lack if it were just presented in its normal formatting. A Scanner Darkly doesn’t have the same extreme post-apocalyptic dystopian feeling that some of Dick’s other sci-fi novels have. Instead, it’s based in the near-future in Southern California. The story being so close to real life makes it more effective in its message. Instead of being some outlandish future world, it is a place and time that we ourselves could experience. The rotoscoping animation really gives it the something’s-not-right feeling that it needs to complete the dystopian feeling of the plot.The animation also covers story elements that wouldn’t translate well on film (for example, the scramble suit or the creature that Freck sees when he attempts suicide, but instead has hallucinations).
A Scanner Darkly is mostly well done and enjoyable. The cast has a good dynamic together. The interactions between Barris and Luckman were lively and entertaining as the audience watches scenes of paranoia between the characters that lead Arctor to question his identity. It is just bizarre enough to pull you in and leave you wanting more. As a fan of Philip K. Dick’s work, I really enjoyed this movie. It was clear that Richard Linklater respected Dick’s work and wanted it to be accurate to the novel and its intentions, and the movie succeeds at that. While other Dick adaptations, like Blade Runner, are less faithful, A Scanner Darkly hits the mark.