A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly is based on a work by Philip K. Dick. As well as I know that name, it occurred to me that I have never read anything by him. I guess that isn't so shocking, because I'm really not a science fiction guy. There have been a number of science-fiction novels that I've started and not finished (including the supposed classic, Stranger in a Strange Land) because I've found them incredibly pretentious.

But what of the film? Well, it was sort of a wash for me. I liked the animation, which I thought might bug me (I can barely sit through those thirty-second commercials for an investment company that use the same technique). I also liked the performances of Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey, Jr., who give this somewhat turgid film a boost whenever they're on screen. And Winona Ryder is in it, which for me is an automatic plus. (It includes what could be considered her first nude scene, even though it is animated. I'll take anything I can get).

But for an animated film about a drug that alters consciousness, this film is surprisingly static. There are long scenes of people sittin' around talkin', which are not always scintillating. There's some identity confusion, which I think I understand, but I'm still not sure. (I was able to guess one character's secret identity before it is revealed, so I guess I was paying attention).

At times, this film seems like director Richard Linklater decided to make an animated, sci-fi version of his film Slacker (with a little Dazed and Confused thrown in). And that just doesn't work.