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Scanner Darkly, A
Warner Independent Pictures


7.2

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 83 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for drug and sexual content, language and a brief violent image

Starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Rory Cochrane

Based on legendary science-fiction author Philip K. Dick’s own experiences, A Scanner Darkly tells the darkly comedic, caustic, but deeply tragic tale of drug use in the modern world. The film plays like a graphic novel come to life with live-action photography overlaid with an advanced animation process -- a method known as interpolated rotoscoping, first employed in writer/director Richard Linklater’s 2001 film "Waking Life" -- to create a haunting version of America, seven years from now. (Warner Independent Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Animation \| Drama \| Mystery \| Sci-fi \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Richard Linklater Philip K. Dick (novel)
DIRECTED BY:	Richard Linklater
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 19, 2006 Theatrical: July 7, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Premiere Glenn Kenny

The most impressive thing about the film's technical wizardry is, finally, how unimpressive it is. One doesn't leave the movie with a mind blown by visual bedazzlement but with a soul shattered by the profound sense of tragedy Linklater and company so beautifully put across.

100

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The casting of Reeves in the lead role is inspired: who better than the star of "The Matrix" and its sequels, a trilogy that borrows heavily from Dick's sensibility and obsessions, to play a personality split through overindulgence in drugs and manipulation by outside forces he barely recognizes?

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Probably the most faithful to the writer's tortured spirit. It's the kind of movie that gets under your skin - and stays there.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

The brilliance of A Scanner Darkly is how it suggests, without bombast or fanfare, the ways in which the real world has come to resemble the dark world of comic books.

Dallas Observer Rob Nelson

What a breath of fresh air this stifling, claustrophobic, boldly uningratiating vision of an American subculture's last gasp imparts to its contrarian core audience. (Call me a hopeless addict: I've seen it three times.)

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Without its animation, A Scanner Darkly would have made a fine cautionary tale about drug addiction, paranoia and institutional treachery in a police state. But with a technique that turns the existing live action into a two-dimensional cartoon, the movie goes one -- maybe even 10 -- better. It becomes its own living, breathing metaphor.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's one of the most faithful movie adaptations of any Dick story to date, and it comes from the scariest of all his books, as well as the truest.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

There's no other filmmaker, living or dead, who could produce a futuristic sci-fi nightmare, a hipster comedy, a haunting film noir and a cartoon, all in the same movie.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Downey, who, having grasped that he's playing a cartoon character, delivers the most animated performance. (Midway through 2006, this supporting turn is the performance to beat in what seems the year's American movie to beat.)

LA Weekly Christopher Orr

As they (Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson) bicker and banter, threaten one another with small household objects, and try (unsuccessfully) to determine the number of gears on a bicycle, they display a combination of irritability and incompetence that is the soul of comedy.

Empire Kim Newman

Its intelligence makes it near-essential viewing.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Turns out to be more ordinary than the recipe might suggest. Oh, it's dense and funny and assured, but it's also chatty and listless in a fashion that constrains a narrative film, which, however reluctantly, it is.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

With everything this film has going for it - humor, intelligence and a splendid ensemble - Richard Linklater's nightmare drug movie, A Scanner Darkly, should be continually compelling. But it loses its fizz after a strong series of pops.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

There's conspiracy here, as there is in all of Dick's books, and it wraps the film up with a moving but somewhat neat bowtie.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

But transforming full, live-action performances into quavering cartoons isn't inherently lyrical, and here it produces the jittery sense of a world dissolving into flat forms and buzzing prattle.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Doesn't quite live up to the promise of its opening sequence, but it's still an audacious offering during a season of brain-dead blockbusters.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The visual style and lethargic pace can be frustrating -- at least if you're sober -- but the animated tragedy is still a success.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

This gifted writer-director isn't out to dull the masses with cinematic opium. Embedded in the visionary headtrip of A Scanner Darkly is a hotly political call to arms.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The film is weirdly fascinating in its own maverick way.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Rotoscoping makes certain sense for a film about cognitive dissonance and alternative realities, though both the vocal and gestural performances by Mr. Reeves, Mr. Harrelson and, in particular, the wonderful Mr. Downey make me wish that we were watching them in live action.

Variety Justin Chang

Deeply intriguing but almost too-faithful adaptation of Philip K. Dick's nightmarish 1977 novel.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Which makes it all the more frustrating that the film doesn't quite work, and that it drags from episode to episode--some are brilliant, most merely intriguing--with little momentum.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

As a whole, the film has too little character and/or plot development to sustain narrative interest. What A Scanner Darkly excels at is mood and tone.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Definitely not for everyone. It's a very bleak story with uneven pacing and a narrative whose jumps in time are confusing and occasionally infuriating. But the post-apocalyptic mood blends well with its uniquely stylized look and surreal story.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

If ever there was a movie more destined to become a cult phenomenon, I don't know if I can name it.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Smartly cast, in the sense that Reeves, gloomy and pained, and Harrelson, confused and explosive, both seem befuddled while Downey, as the devious, intellectual Barris, is befuddling.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Scanner is mostly all talk, and the talk is entertaining only when it's coming from Downey. The actor's long history of drug abuse taught him a thing or two about cooked behavior, and he gives some anxious run-on monologues that are very funny.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It's watchable, due to the rotoscoping technique...It's also as lightweight as the smoke rings blown by one of many perverse, dull characters.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

More than once during A Scanner Darkly, you find yourself wishing these characters would just shut up.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Isn't as dark or sinister as its source material, but it comes closer than any other filmed attempts to this point. It may only be a decent movie, but it's a pretty fine PKD adaptation.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

A rambling depiction of a junkie's descent into zombitude.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

In A Scanner Darkly, we're watching other people freak out, but the film is maddening to sit through because their freak-outs never become ours.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

Audiences will have to seek out their own peculiar diversions in order to last the whole course of this demi-dud.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 83 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rory P. gave it a6:
I'm not usually a fan of Robert Downey Jr, but I thought he was very good in this film. He managed to make something striking out of his typical funny/oddball shtick, creating a presence in his neurotic character that mananged to be both weak and threatening. In fact, I liked his performance so much that, as i watched it, i began wishing i could see him acting the part without all the rotoscoping sh*t hiding the performance. Rory Cochrane on the other hand, was over the top in a way that perfectly suited the rotoscope format and the tone of the film. I really hope he gets out of CSI and gets into some movies/non-cack tv shows. I'd love to see him in a decent role. Keanu does his sullen thing again. Its alright, just about. The rotoscoping thing is good, and the acting is good enough, and their is some good dialogue. Its just all very slow and protracted though. its all a bit of a whimper. An unfocused one at that. I'd say this film is most suitable for dedicated fans of Mr. Dick and connoisseurs of film production. Other then that, i'd say you'll be relatively bored of the whole thing, interesting themes and all, after a hour or so.

Kent C. gave it a5:
Artistic creativity and vision isn't enough to change the confusing plot.

Donal M. gave it a10:
Absolutely brilliant.Good storyline, class twist at the end. Rotoscope effect just finishes it off.Creeped me out the first time, had to watch it again and again to understand it more.

Sergey M gave it an8:
Very cool, stylish psychedelic movie!

Brendan M. gave it a9:
A Scanner Darkly is extremly provocative, and visualy stunning. The story really sends a message to modern day society about the what if situation if the war on drugs is lost, and how a person can be controlled by peopel who he thinks are his friends. Its a haunting tale, as well as a cauntionary one, and is not to be missed by anyone interested in good film.

Martin A. gave it a9:
What makes my blood boil about reading these 'public' reviews is that people think that if a film doesn't tick boxes, its "boring, pretentious and no plot character/development." And you will see the same trite comments on every film review on this website. Films like this are attempting to redesign cinema. And in many ways this film is very original. This film circulates around the idea and connotations of drugs and Linklater tries to incorporate this into every aspect. The most obvious aspect of this is the aestetics, the constantly shifting and changing shapes indicate the idea of instability. The plot is murky and constantly fluctuating from comedy to existential questioning andthe dialogue ranges from scientic journal extracts to inane alcoholic banter. None of the dialogue is "meaningless" it all serves a purpose. The film is fantastic because it shows the conflicting mentalities of society and drug user, demonstrated prominently by the quote "you're either on substance d, or you havent tried it." Its a great film.

Jordan K gave it an8:
Those who gave it a red score, and ridiculed the director for the "boring, meaningless dialog, with the 'twist' at the end, which was very predictable" probably haven't read Philip K. Dick. If they had read Dick, they may have been able to appreciate how sincerely the director tried to transfer Dick's style and story to film. This film was masterful, even with Keanu Reeves. Anyone who hated this film is probably illeterate in film and books.

Scanner Darkly, A Warner Independent Pictures

Scanner Darkly, A
Warner Independent Pictures