A Scanner Darkly (2006)

	Director: Richard Linklater	COUNTRY USA GENRE Thriller/Sci-Fi NORWEGIAN TITLE A Scanner Darkly RUNNING TIME 100 minutes
	Producer: Tommy Pallotta Anne Walker-McBay Palmer West Jonah Smith Erwin Stoff
	Screenwriter (based on the novel by Philip K. Dick): Richard Linklater

Review

Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's renowned novel about the allure and dangers of recreational drugs is a delicate blend of the playful and the profound that manages to do justice to Dick's particular literary style. The main tool in achieving this is Linklater's inventive use of interpolated rotoscoping – a post-production technique in which every one of Linklater's digitally shot frames were animated (or rather re-animated, or was it de-animated?) by a team of animators. This not only gives A Scanner Darkly a unique visual distinction, but also accentuates Dick's characteristic mixture of ominousness and biting humour. His ingenious dialogue is perfectly preserved and delivered – none more so than through Robert Downey Jr.'s hilarious turn as James Barris. Fans of the novel may feel that the film's ending arrives a bit abruptly, but I prefer to focus on the wonder of seeing the works of truly intelligent authors brought to the screen. A lot of nice things can be said about the average Hollywood screenwriters – but they're no Philip K. Dick.