A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly
3.5/5
"What if they come in through the back door or the bathroom window like that infamous Beatles song?" - Luckman
A Scanner Darkly is the first movie I can think of since Terry Gilliam’s classic “Fear and Loathing” that spends the majority of its movie merely examining the mental state and everyday life of crazed drug addicts. And while this movie in many ways is not “Fear and Loathing”, It still has many qualities that make it one of the better movies to come out this year.
A Scanner Darkly is a Sci-Fi movie but the Sci-Fi elements are woven into the everyday life of simple drug users and for the most part seem far from a Sci-Fi movie. Keanu Reeves plays Bob Arctor, and undercover cop who lives amongst low level drug users to find out their source and where the drugs all lead to. But for Arctor it becomes more difficult as he becomes hooked to this drug and one of these Drugies. The catch is that no one in the police force knows who their agent really is in the field; they just know the area he is working. In this world the police walk around in scramble suits, which hide undercover cop’s identities from each other, so that no one will know their true identities. So when the police force begin to question Arctor, who they only know as “Fred” in his scramble suit”, they admit that they are on to Arctor and want to take him down as the ring leader.
This is one side of the story. The other is the very real world of Arctor’s drug addiction and the people he shares his addiction to. The Drug, Substance D, is a drug that causes massive hallucinations. Or so they tell us sometimes. Other times the drugs affect just seems to calm people down and make them normal. It’s really unclear what the drug does for the user as it changes from scene to scene which I found a bit annoying. In one scene a guy takes the drug and he begins to see magical bugs all over his house and then sees himself getting killed by a cop. But in another scene a guy takes three pills while driving and then just seems to chill out and be fine. Huh?
But one thing about the drug is clear, and that is the negative side effects that its user suffers. A unique level of brain damage the separates events that are currently going on in ones head. Forces them to see things not as they are. In the film, it is described as the loss of power to the dominate left side of the Brain, and then the right side of the brain must step in and become over dominate, changing the way one sees the world. This is what begins to happen to Arctor as he seems to loose control of the world in which he inhabits.
As harsh and interesting a premise as that may be, this film really shines in the small scenes. The everyday dialog amongst the drug users who all live in the same house. This may be due to the fact that they are cast extremely well, by the likes of Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Haralson. Both play unique druggies who each have their own sort of psychosis. Robert Downey plays Barris who is something of an arrogant, paranoid user who seems to be the expert on the drug and its use. Some of the best scenes in this movie revolve around Barris and his paranoid behaviors, such as the time he buys a bike on the street he thought was an 18 speed, and then learns is a 9 speed. He the demands he go back and demand that he get the other 9 speeds he was promised. Little things like that just kind of keep this film rolling and prevent you from loosing interest in the film even though you are essentially watching drug addicts hang out for 20 minutes straight. Woody Haralson plays Luckman, who is the real over the top druggie who just wants to leech of people, and seems to have a rather low intelligence level, at least in comparison to the other druggies that is.
The Animation style here is something that also be made a note of. At first seeing these cartoon people is a bit jarring and even annoying, but by the end you really become use to it and its fine. When it comes to some of the effects you even think that the film does work better this way. From time to time the level of detail does change in the animation which will cause you to give it a questioned look, but overall it’s interesting and original to watch.
A Scanner Darkly is a Sci-Fi film about cops and the drug epidemic in the near future, but this films writing of dialog gives it the edge that it needed to make it a good film, and not another goofy Keanu Reeves movie (Not including the Matrix, which I still stand by as an amazing film). Some people will without question find this film “too weird” for them, but for the rest they will find a movie that is enjoyable.
