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A Scanner Darkly

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A Scanner Darkly

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Summary

Animated science-fiction drama starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder. California, 2013: An undercover cop known as Fred poses as a drug dealer in order to find the supplier of the ultra-addictive Substance D. But as his investigation progresses, Fred begins to lose track of his real identity.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Dave Aldridge

The work of novelist Philip K Dick has already been brought successfully to the screen with films like Blade Runner (1982) and more recently Minority Report (2002). This time The School of Rock director Richard Linklater uses the process of interpolated rotoscoping, which he pioneered with Waking Life (2001), to bring Dick's tale of a paranoid, surveillance-crazy near-future to life. The process paints over live footage to create animated action - a technique that certainly isn't new, but which Linklater has manipulated to create his own distinctive visual style. Here, the US conducts a war on drugs with the same zeal as its war on terror, and Keanu Reeves is an undercover narcotics officer whose disguise tool - a scramble suit - enables him to take on a new identity and infiltrate a drugs ring. This is a better, more commercial film than the rather wordy Waking Life, and technically it is stunning. But you can't help wondering whether fans of Reeves, Robert Downey Jr and the film's other stars might not prefer to see the actors themselves on screen, rather than their animated equivalents.

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7.0/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameBob Arctor / "Fred"Keanu ReevesJames "Jim" BarrisRobert Downey JrErnie LuckmanWoody HarrelsonDonna HawthorneWinona RyderCharles FreckRory CochraneBrown Bear Lodge hostMitch BakerCopSteven Chester PrinceWaitressNatasha ValdezBob Arctor's wifeMelody Chase

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Crew

rolenameDirectorRichard Linklater

Details

Theatrical distributor

Warner Bros

Released on

2006-08-18

Languages

English

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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