A Scanner Darkly
Ok, I should clarify this review by say that I have seen this movie in its’ entirety…just not all at once. You see, I went with some friends to watch it a few weeks ago, and while I held my own during the first part of the film, I started to doze off during the second half (which I why I held off in reviewing it). Well, I did go to see it again before it left Atlanta theatres, and this time I dozed off during the first half (which admittedly I felt meandered the first time anyway), and stayed awake during the second half. Not the best way to see a movie I know, and certainly a movie like “Darkly,” but there it is. Don’t worry- I’ll try again when it hits DVD. I do feel as though I can give this film a fair review, though, and I have to say…it’s a disappointment. Adapted from a futuristic novel by Philip K. Dick (responsible for the stories that led to “Blade Runner,” “Minority Report,” and “Total Recall”) by writer-director Richard Linklater (an obvious fan after the reference in his brilliant 2001 experiment “Waking Life”), “Darkly” on film is full of visual vitality and fascinating ideas- set to a moody and futuristic score by Graham Reynolds that stands as one of my favorites from this year- without a cogent storyline to do justice to either. I’ve already heard complaints about things in the book that were lost in the adaptation, but that doesn’t excuse Linklater for turning a promising idea into an aimless bore.
He’s got a great cast to work with too, with Keanu Reeves- who’s actually more interesting in “The Lake House” than he is here (who would have thought THAT at the start of the summer?)- as an undercover cop in the not-so-distant future trying to work his way up the ladder of a drug ring responsible for Substance D, a hallucinagenic drug that’s big on the streets of California. But Reeves’ Bob Arctor (who goes by the codename Fred) gets a little too undercover as he hangs out constantly with targets Donna (Winona Ryder, looking hot and not much else)- who is just a step down from where Arctor needs to be in the Substance D foodchain- Luckman (Woody Harrelson), and Barris (Robert Downey Jr., compelling as always) and doping up at any opportunity, which makes Barris’ “cooperation” with Arctor’s department and the recent psychological evaluations he’s been put under difficult to go through.
Just like the movie, as a matter of fact. It seems odd that Linklater (who’s stumbled- in execution, not daring- since the duel-successes of 2003’s “School of Rock” and 2004’s “Before Sunset” with this and last year’s “Bad News Bears”) created a more fluid and lucid animation head trip with 2001’s groundbreaking “Waking Life,” which- like this film- was shot on digital film, then rotoscope animated over by a team lead by Bob Sabiston (an innovator who deserves mention with Pixar and PDI as a leader in CG animation). The process is more polished here than it was in “Life” (though with both the animation feels vibrant and alive), and certainly the appropriate way to visualize Dick’s universe. But whereas “Life” moved narratively at a headlong pace (despite being a series of not-necessarily-connected vignettes), “Darkly” stops and spurts along with no real narrative conclusion to be resolved in the end- but again, this is based on two incomplete viewings of the film where everything was seen at least once. Maybe on DVD I’ll be able to keep my head (and body) in the game at least once to watch Linklater’s film from start to finish. For now, though (and from what I’ve talked to people about regarding the film, I’m not alone), Linklater’s made probably the year’s most creatively exciting- and alternately frustrating- film. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
