A futuristic morality tale using rotoscope animation to enhance the trip effect, offering visual stimulation but not enough satisfying engagement.
Comment
11/24/06
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
67
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:166
Fresh:112
Rotten:54
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: A faithful adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel, A Scanner Darkly takes the viewer on a visual and mind-blowing journey into the author's conception of a drug-addled and politically unstable world.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $5,281,537
Synopsis: Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's classic novel is a challenging, mind-bending experience that cautions about the dangers of excessive drug use as well as the government's capacity... [More]
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder
Director: Richard Linklater
Reviews for A Scanner Darkly
Top CriticA handsome and mindwarping movie that has cult hit written all over it.
07/11/06
If it leaves you with a facial expression as stunned as that of Keanu, you know Linklater and his crew have done their jobs.
07/13/06
As Dick's vision matches up with our times, so does director Richard Linklater's animation technique match the story's material. A Scanner Darkly is a joyful wedding of medium and message.
07/13/06
The film as a whole may be lacking in coherence and emotional punch, but there are some marvelous sequences.
07/13/06
As the title implies, there’s a certain opacity to A Scanner Darkly, but at times it can be as naked as the lunch on the end of your fork.
07/06/06
A head-trip that never gets beneath the skin.
07/06/06
The movie isn't for those seeking a run-of-the-mill Hollywood film and it can't be viewed with a trace of passivity.
05/02/07
It's never less than incredibly beautiful to watch.
08/15/06
Click to read the article
07/14/07
This is a movie about losing one's grip and like any addict's story, it's boring, ugly, sad, and terribly human. And surprisingly funny.
07/07/06
Click to read the article
04/23/09
Dude, if your idea of fun is watching a group of drug-addled slackers rant and rave in graphic-novel-cum-cartoon, I've got just the movie for you ... To be graphic, A Scanner Darkly is one freaking bad trip.
07/18/06
Based on Philip K. Dick's 1977 novel that was informed by the author's own drug experiences, the film, which retains the dark humor often missing from other Dick adaptations is at once dated and eerily prescient.
07/07/06
Too talkie to be legitimately entertaining, too dark to be wholly enjoyable and too muddled to be entirely comprehensible, A Scanner Darkly stands as a creative, if unengaging interpretation of its source materia
02/28/08
The slipperiness of the animated image has something to do with duplicity, with the idea that things you perceive are not necessarily the same as things that are real, and with the fact that both people and governments betray you.
07/18/06
this dystopian paranoid thriller tracks addiction in all its highs and lows, and offers a dignified elegy for its misguided casualties.
06/13/07
While Dick was a world-class paranoiac, his trenchant writing had bite, wit and energy. Linklater's slacker adaptation ambles where it should creep forward frantically.
07/13/06
An ambitious animated adaptation of one of the most personal novels by sci-fi visionary Philip K. Dick.
07/07/06
Watching A Scanner Darkly, we can feel [Philip K.] Dick's world close in on us. And we can be glad we're only visitors.
07/06/06
Latest News for A Scanner Darkly
January 09, 2007:
Online Film Critics Name Their Year-End Favorites
Hosted right here at the illustrious Rotten Tomatoes is the official website of the Online Film Critics Society, an international group of flick analyzers who put their heads... More...
August 31, 2006:
A Taste of What's "Next" for Nicolas Cage
Any time I hear the phrase "movie based on a Philip K. Dick story," I know I have to do a little more research. The next PKD adaptation is Lee Tamahori's... More...
August 08, 2006:
Paul Giamatti to Star as Philip K. Dick
He night not be as famous as H.G. Wells or Isaac Asimov, but ask a sci-fi enthusiast what they think of Philip K. Dick, and get ready for a lengthy conversation. The late and... More...
July 24, 2006:
Box Office Wrapup: "Pirates" Passes $300M; "Lady" Stumbles
Johnny Depp made this weekend's four new releases walk the plank as his megablockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest became the first film of the year to spend... More...
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