A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly

2 Stars

On Friday we saw A Scanner Darkly. I was a little disappointed, but I went in with fairly high hopes.

At times, the film moves along at a pretty slow pace. There were some long conversation scenes that became tedious very quickly.

At first I thought the cast looked great (Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downy Jr., Keanu Reeves, Rory Cochrane), but in the end, they all played exactly the character you would expect them to play. They were the kinds of roles that these actors could have done in their sleep.

If you are unfamiliar with the movie, it’s rotoscoped. The film is processed in a way that makes it look like animation. I was really excited about seeing this, but about midway through the film I started looking at this as more of a gimmick. It’s almost as if they used this to distract you from an otherwise mediocre movie.

I wouldn’t discourage someone from seeing this film, but I wouldn’t really recommend it either.

Monday, July 24th, 2006 Movies & TV

3 Comments to A Scanner Darkly

  1. I think that the movie was pretty awesome!! I really digged it! I thought that the story line wasn’t all that bad either, but then again, I guess people think that I like every movie I see. But overall I think that is was a good show, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from seeing it.

    2. Ryan on July 24th, 2006

  2. I pretty much agree. I saw this earlier this year at a screening and came away feeling the same way about the story as you did (although they may have made a few changes since). I really do think the style was a crutch for the filmaker and took away from them focusing on a solid story. I think they had a good start and there are some really nice moments, they just didn’t add up to a complete film for me.

    3. Bruce on July 25th, 2006

  3. Does anyone know when the movie will be open to the masses?? I live in a city in which the movie is not being screened.

    4. Matt on August 9th, 2006

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The Author

Paul Burd is a multimedia designer, and amateur photographer, living in San Francisco. More...

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