Reader Recommendation: A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Today I decided I'd take another movie off the recommendation list and picked one I've always been curious about. In high school I was primarily an art student, but eventually left the field in favor of science and math. However, I've always had an eye for drawn or artistic works. This brings me to A Scanner Darkly. A movie entirely done with rotoscoping, it's definitely eye catching. Starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson, it's got quite a packed cast of talent. Personally I like Keanu Reeves, some people are put off by him it seems, but not me. I was quite looking forward to this artistic adventure, did it live up to my expectations? Hit the jump to find out.


Keanu Reeves plays Bob Arcter, an undercover agent with a futuristic drug enforcement task force. When the film starts he's already been undercover with some other drug heads for quite some time, and has unfortunately developed a drug addiction himself. The drug is Substance D and it slowly causes brain damage. As bad as that is, that's not even his biggest problem. As part of this future, agents are given special suits that make you completely anonymous visually and audibly to those around you, and he's now been assigned to observe... himself. He's tasked with monitoring his own house and drug using friends. As the drugs mess with his mind, he has an increasingly difficult time understanding the world around him.

The animation style is easily what first attracts people to this movie. It's so unusual and uncommon to see, especially in a big Hollywood movie like this. The look is achieved through a form of rotoscoping, in which the entire movie was filmed normally, and afterward artists and animators trace or go over the footage, recreating it as it's seen. Sometimes it's done with great detail, other times it's kept more abstract. It's quite useful for A Scanner Darkly as it helps further the way the viewer experiences the story as the main character's reality unravels.

Bob Arcter and his girlfriend Donna go for a drive

I did have a few issues with the art, even though for the most part, I thought it worked quite well. While it was amazing on the people in the movie and their faces, there was a distinct lack of detail in the backgrounds a lot of the time. This gave them a very rushed, cheap, unfinished look in comparison to the intricately detailed actors. Also, sometimes the artists would clearly mess with perspective and the environment to visually show Arcter's mental distress. However, sometimes this simply caused your attention to be drawn from what's really going on, say in a conversation, and instead focus on a bottle that seems unable to stay in one spot on the table as the camera moves in the scene. Again, these small details gave me a cheap feeling when compared to the amazing work done on the clothes and features of the people.

Other than the small but constant distractions caused by the rotoscoping, the story kept my attention and was an interesting take on the crime genre with a cool sci-fi flair. It didn't blow me away or anything, but it was eye catching at least. If you have any interest in this movie, don't hesitate to pick it up, it's certainly a unique visual experience if anything else.