A Scanner Darkly (2006)

An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers:

Philip K. Dick (novel), Richard Linklater (screenplay)

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr.

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rory Cochrane	...	Charles Freck
Robert Downey Jr.	...	James Barris
Mitch Baker	...	Brown Bear Lodge Host
Keanu Reeves	...	Bob Arctor
Sean Allen	...	Additional Fred Scramble Suit Voice (voice)
Cliff Haby	...	Voice from Headquarters (voice)
Steven Chester Prince	...	Cop
Winona Ryder	...	Donna Hawthorne
Natasha Valdez	...	Waitress
Mark Turner	...	Additional Hank Scramble Suit Voice (voice)
Woody Harrelson	...	Ernie Luckman
Chamblee Ferguson	...	Medical Deputy #2
Angela Rawna	...	Medical Deputy #1
Eliza Stevens	...	Arctor's Daughter #1
Sarah Menchaca	...	Arctor's Daughter #2

Storyline

In a totalitarian society in a near future, the undercover detective Bob Arctor is working with a small time group of drug users trying to reach the big distributors of a brain-damaging drug called Substance D. His assignment is promoted by the recovery center New Path Corporation, and when Bob begins to lose his own identity and have schizophrenic behavior, he is submitted to tests to check his mental conditions.

---

Plot Keywords:

drugs | substance d | undercover | detective | undercover cop | 

---

Taglines:

Everything Is Not Going To Be OK

---

Genres:

Animation | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France] Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Una mirada a la oscuridad

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£242,990 (UK) (18 August 2006)

Gross:

$5,480,996 (USA) (6 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Independent Pictures (WIP), Thousand Words, Section Eight

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the highest-grossing digitally rotoscoped animated feature, grossing $7,659,918. However, being also the most-expensive rotoscoped feature ever made, that figure is lower than the film's cost of $8.7 million.

---

Goofs

When Bob wakes up and reaches over Connie, he is wearing blue boxer shorts. But in the footage that he watches later, he is naked.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Freck: [on the phone] I looked them up. They're aphids. They're in my hair, on my skin, in my lungs. And the pain, Barris, it's unreasonable. They're all over the place. Oh, they've completely gotten Millie too.

---

Crazy Credits

The "Phil" mentioned in the "in memoriam" list as having permanent pancreatic damage is Philip K. Dick himself.

---

Connections

References Catch Me If You Can (2002)

---

Soundtracks

Are You Experiencing Any Difficulties?
(uncredited)
Performed by Graham Reynolds feat. The Golden Arm Trio

User Reviews

Radiohead fans will love this movie.

For some reason I can't get separate the way I feel about Radiohead's Kid A and Amnesiac albums from the way I feel about this movie. If you love adult sci-fi that is complex and strangely moving then this is a must see movie. This captures Philip K. Dick's spirit better than any movie since BLADERUNNER and is even more difficult to pin a reaction on. SCANNER is a more intimate film. Anybody who has seen Richard Linklater's mind boggling WAKING LIFE will be instantly familiar (and comfortable) with the way SCANNER looks. The rotoscoping technique doesn't seem that much further evolved from WAKING except for the scrambler suit whose effect is a continuous wonder to behold. The look beautifully suits the story because they both speak to the large disconnect that has happened in our society via technology. Interpersonal and immediately accessible intercommunication devices have allowed us to avoid real communication and immediate interaction with our surroundings and the people who inhabit them at any moment on a grander scale than ever before. I find it rather depressing and annoying when my current reality in interrupted by a bloody cell phone (unless, of course, it is mine that is ringing). Dick's work often addressed alienation and sinking so far into your own that reality became a liquid element usually washing us up onto the shores paranoia and madness. SCANNER evokes this strangeness in a way few movies ever have.