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.

4 wins & 19 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 Janina Valdez	...	Waitress (as Natasha Valdez)
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.

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Plot Keywords:

rotoscoping | covered in bugs | lodge meeting | washing a dog | collie dog | 

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Taglines:

Everything Is Not Going To Be OK

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Genres:

Animation | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug and sexual content, language and a brief violent image

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France] Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Scanner Darkly

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$391,672, 9 July 2006

Gross USA:

$5,501,616

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,659,654

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

Based on Philip K. Dick's personal drug experiences.

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Goofs

(at around 35 mins) After the car breaks down on the freeway, they cut to a scene where the car is facing backwards on a flatbed tow truck. If the car was picked up on the freeway, it would be facing forward unless the tow truck picked up the car from the rear which on the freeway would be highly unlikely.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

At the start of the ending credits, the following text appears: This has been a story about people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. I loved them all. Here is a list, to whom I dedicate my love: To Gaylene, deceased To Ray, deceased To Francy, permanent psychosis To Kathy, permanent brain damage To Jim, deceased To Val, massive permanent brain damage To Nancy, permanent psychosis To Joanne, permanent brain damage To Maren, deceased To Nick, deceased To Terry, deceased To Dennis, deceased To Phil, permanent pancreatic damage To Sue, permanent vascular damage To Jerri, permanent psychosis and vascular damage ...and so forth In memoriam. These were comrades whom I had; There are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgiven. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy. Philip K. Dick

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Connections

References Catch Me If You Can (2002)

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Soundtracks

Amazing Sounds of Orgy
Written by Thom Yorke (as Thomas Yorke), Phil Selway (as Philip Selway), Jonny Greenwood (as Jonathan Greenwood),
Colin Greenwood and Ed O'Brien (as Edward O'Brien)
Performed by Radiohead
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under licence from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

A Must for Fans of Dick and Linklater

I've never written a review on this site before, but since I've just been at the first screening of this movie at Brandeis, I feel like writing a few comments. First of all, visually this movie is incredible. The roto-scoping is a vast improvement over Waking Life (and that's on a crappy screen with the film only 95% completed.) Despite the overall dark nature of the film, the dialogue is at times hilarious, and at the screening the audience erupted into laughter several times. Now, on to the story itself. I never read the Phillip K. Dick novel, but from what I could tell, the movie stays faithful. This is not a popcorn thriller; like I said, it is very dark. As the producer Erwin Stoff said after the showing, the movie reflects the bad experiences Dick had with drugs during his life. Apparently the producers bought the rights to the book from Dick's daughters at a reduced rate because they promised to be faithful to his vision, and I could definitely see the effort that was put in in order to accomplish that. Overall, I enjoyed this movie very much. Admittedly, it was hard to follow at times. But, as with the other Linklater films that I have seen, A Scanner Darkly is worth seeing for the interesting dialogue, esoteric characters (especially Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson, who provide many of the films laughs), and stunning visuals. It is not a plot-driven movie at all; the story as described in the IMDb summary, which is more or less accurate, is just a framework from which to express Dick's stark and angry vision of the ravages of drugs on society. Those seeking visceral excitement will be disappointed, but those looking for an intelligent, bleakly funny, dream-like, thought provoking experience that is incredibly grim yet not entirely hopeless, will be rewarded. A Scanner Darkly is definitely not for everybody, because its pacing and animation style are not mainstream(the same is true of its release schedule: only 4 theaters on July 7, 8 the next week, and so on). However, for fans of Linklater and/or Dick, this is no doubt a must see, and you should mark July 7th on your calendar.