A Scanner Darkly (2006)

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Behind the Scenes: Read more about the production About The Production Austin City Limits The Animation Process

Download Movie Script For entertainment and informational purposes only. First Draft (Charlie Kaufman) (by Charlie Kaufman adapted from A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick) [PDF]

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External Reviews

...feels like an experimental film - an effort by the director to stretch the stylistic envelope at the expense of plot and character. A Scanner Darkly is always interesting, but it's not always involving, and it's even less often entertaining. See what I mean: a cult film. 

...is likely to divide people, even the more open-minded ones who normally appreciate Linklater's talking heads style of filmmaking. Whether or not it had to be animated may be a question for the ages, but the animation adds another level to Linklater's dialogue-heavy work. Mixing those sensibilities with Dick's out-there ideas makes for an experience that's not easily shaken. 8/10

--Edward Douglas (ComingSoon.net)

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The open-endedness and general slowness of the plot make "A Scanner Darkly" a bit of a difficult pill to swallow, but not an unpleasant one. As difficult and painful as it can be for humanity to face the darkest sides of itself, the fact that it can still ask those questions is cause for hope, and that might be all anyone can ask for. 10/10

--Joshua Starnes (ComingSoon.net)

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If you’re looking for a psychedelic view of a psychedelic story (or if you are strung out on Substance D) then “A Scanner Darkly” may appeal to you. I felt strung out like its characters, though, and give it a C+. C+,B

--Robin and Laura Clifford

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...is a vividly interpreted film, and perhaps Dick fans will find more to play with here than the average viewer. But as a rotund demonstration of visual imagination and social insight, the absence of focus just murders the effort. C

--Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)

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...the film slows in some places, nearly to a halt. It's frustrating, but wait it out. The whole is worth it; it's a grand and elegant portrait of paranoia and malfeasance set amongst society's seedy underbelly. 

--PAM GRADY (Reel.com)

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Unfortunately, beyond the aesthetics and the premise, A Scanner Darkly just stagnates. It lingers for far too long in stretches of no action and self-involved philosophizing that makes all the nifty sci-fi set up moot, and all of the talent and potentialthat went into it got lost somewhere along the way. 

--Anne Gilbert (FilmCritic.com)

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...comes closer than any other movie has but still doesn't quite get there. Once again, the old drug-addled guru -- twenty-four years dead now -- leaves Hollywood far behind. 

--Rob Gonsalves (eFilmCritic.com)

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I think some people will be tricked by the unusual visual style into thinking the film is more interesting than it is. I say look beyond that at what's actually happening and you'll realize that without the rotoscoping, the movie would be completely undistinguished, competent but only mildly entertaining. C

--Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com)

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Directed by

Richard Linklater The School of Rock, Before Sunset, Dazed and Confused

Written by

Richard Linklater The School of Rock, Before Sunset, Dazed and Confused Philip K. Dick Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall

Cast

Keanu Reeves The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions Robert Downey Jr. Natural Born Killers, Gothika, Wonder Boys Woody Harrelson Natural Born Killers, The Thin Red Line, Anger Management Winona Ryder Edward Scissorhands, Alien: Resurrection, Beetle Juice Rory Cochrane Dazed and Confused, Empire Records, Hart's War Sean Allen Twice Upon a Christmas, X Files, The: Memento Mori Mitch Baker Idiocracy, Fast Food Nation, Infamous [more]

It seems that the point of this movie is to say, drugs are bad. Why then does the movie that's making this point appear to have been made by people on them?  --Scott Nash (TheMovieBuffs.com) ... In other words, this is an ambitious drug movie that's much less mind-blowing than it could've been. 6/10 --Jeffrey Chen (WindowToMovies.com) ...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.  --Pete Vonder Haar (FilmThreat.com) Cinematic synapses misfire in this Philip K. Dick adaptation. --Duane Byrge (Hollywod Reporter) The film may not elevate Dick’s written vision, but it certainly fulfills its obligations (even going so far as to preserve the author’s heartbreaking dedication). And ultimately, that’s a win for (almost) everyone.  --Leitha Matz (Tailslate.net)

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