A Scanner Darkly

In my last two entries, I talked about the great work Robert Downey, Jr. did on his comeback trail. But I would be amiss if I didn't mention the surreal 2006 film A Scanner Darkly.

Keanu Reeves stars as Bob Arctor, an agent who goes deep undercover to infiltrate the drug underworld. He's so deep that he wears a suit that is constantly changing his appearance. The drugs, the suit, and his past begin to play with his mind and he gets too far into the scene that he is trying to bust.

Based on the novel by Phillip K. Dick , this, along with Blade Runner, is one of the best adaptations of his work. Written and directed by Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly uses an animation style called Rotoscoping. This is when the actors act out the scenes and the animation is drawn over them. Linklater used the same process in Waking Life and this was a process Ralph Bakshi used a lot in his films. It actually adds to the film instead of being distracting, giving it a trippy vibe.

The cast, which also includes Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Rory Cochrane, is great, especially Downey as the out of his mind drug dealer and Cochrane as an addict who feels like bugs are constantly attacking him.

This is one strange, but terrific movie.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.