"A Scanner Darkly" portrays Orange County in the near future, where many people are addicted to a drug called Substance D, the government is scanning everyone to see whether or not they are using it, and someone announces that the government is going after terrorists pushing the drug (Philip K. Dick wrote this long before September 11, 2001, so it now seems very prescient). However, the movie itself focuses more on the people using the drug and how it affects their relationships. Undercover - and he's literally undercover - agent Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) has been using the drug when the secret police for whom he works order him to spy on his friends (Rory Cochrane, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder). Thus begins a drugged-out, sci-fi experience that I can't even begin to describe; you basically can't tell what's real and what isn't.
The nearly live-action animation gives the movie a very hallucinogenic feel, lifting it above the average drug addiction-totalitarian future story. If the events portrayed in the movie make you feel like your blood has frozen and your brain is swimming, then it has succeeded. I would say that this is the best adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel ever. Very topical in this era of the "war on terrorism" and "war on drugs". I would also say that it makes a troika of great movies with Steven Soderbergh (happy birthday, Steven!) as executive producer, started by "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" (which also co-starred Robert Downey Jr.).
What does a scanner see? Probably everything.
The nearly live-action animation gives the movie a very hallucinogenic feel, lifting it above the average drug addiction-totalitarian future story. If the events portrayed in the movie make you feel like your blood has frozen and your brain is swimming, then it has succeeded. I would say that this is the best adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel ever. Very topical in this era of the "war on terrorism" and "war on drugs". I would also say that it makes a troika of great movies with Steven Soderbergh (happy birthday, Steven!) as executive producer, started by "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" (which also co-starred Robert Downey Jr.).
What does a scanner see? Probably everything.