Matt Looks Through A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly (15)
Dir. Richard Linklater

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Everything is not going to be OK”

I refer you to my utterance, again, be of no doubt that there is an uttermost haze over the component cabinet before which I stand. I stand and ponder the components as they in turn ponder me (or at least a facet of ‘me’ which may or may not be the Matt Adcock that the inner ‘me’ relates to)… As my ransacked brain scans the assorted items and picks a can of Coca Cola ‘Blak’ (new coffee flavour coke I got addicted to in France last week) – I can feel a foreboding sense that things might not be making any… sense that is… And so it is that I have experienced a work of high art based on the 1977 novel by everybody’s future shaper Philip K. Dick, whose works have become movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report. Now if you like Dick as much as I do (no, not like that), then you’ll be delighted by A Scanner Darkly because it is for my money the most faithful Dickness to hit the big screen.
And it’s rotoscoped! This means that every frame of film was shot with digital cameras and then a crew of insane seven year old animators were allowed to hand-paint all over every one – the effect is disorientating, the effect is somewhat disorientating, but it is also disorientating… I might have said that already.
Is it any good?
Utterly good, utterly dark and utterly spaceballed. If you’re looking for an utterly unique cinematic experience of the near future in which stoner dudes freak each other out and paranoia munches the coating from the screen: Choose Scanner.
If you need a coherent plot, can’t take trippy visuals and / or film reviews written whilst the writer was smacked out of his head on Substance D (or Coca Cola ‘Blak’) annoy you, you might want to quietly leave now, find a comfortable spot, curl up into a foetal ball and hum James Blunt songs gently to yourself.
Substance D, which it seems an alarming percentage of the population is already taking on a regular basis, is the number one problem for the government. Every possible user has been put under constant surveillance – yes that means you too.
I’d advise you to investigate yourself as soon as possible and turn yourself in if you find something unsightly…
We’ve known it for a while but everything is not going to be OK – A Scanner Darkly isn’t OK, it’s genius, but it’s not for everyone.

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):
Action ööö – slowburn dude
Laughs öööö – I laughed a lot, that doesn't necessarily mean it was funny
Horror ööö – skin might crawl
Babes ööö – I'd like to rotoscope Winona Ryder

Overall öööö (some will love this, others won't - I loved it but the voices in my head didn't)

"rotoscope me one more time"

"OK"

Darkmatters: H O M E