A SCANNER DARKLY Film Review - 8/9/06

One can only applaude a film director like Richard Linklater who using his revolutionary animation technique from his film "Waking Life" has taken it a step further and adapted Philip K. Dick's novel of paranoia (what else?) into a wonderland of bizarre reality from filming the film "live" then putting it through the animation process. Unfortunately the film is like being hit in the face with a saucepan several times hard! A group of stoners meander all over the shop and spout drug crazed nonsense whilst an erstwhile covert agency polices their moves in stealth suits.
This utter crap wanders up hill and dale getting nowhere fast and can in no shape or form be added to other successful adaptions of Dick's bizarre paranoid fantasies like "Total Recall" or "Blade Runner". Even low-budget stuff like "Screamers" and "Imposter" at least is entertaining and mildly intelligent - But they did manage to put in the fact that the covert agency operative is actually tracking himself and doesn't realise that his alter-ego is the person he is tracking in a typical Philip K. Dick head screw.
Sadly the animation is this picture's only saving grace apart from the sterling performances from the main cast of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder. Twenty minutes into this film I was so bored I knew this would be no "Minority Report" or "Paycheck". We have none of the previous adaptations of the author's work's twists and turns, plot threads or inventiveness.
One to file in the storage container marked "BIN".