Sad Keanu before the meme. Robert Downey Jnr in prime bursque rant mode pre-MCU. Woody Harrelson as hippy-dippy paranoid (naturally). Winona Ryder as subtle and caring from afar. Rory Cochrane taking his Slater character from Dazed And Confused to another deeper, darker, depressing level of Too Far Gone. A Scanner Darkly (2006), an adaptation of a Phillip K Dick sci-fi novel that uses animated rotoscoping to visualise the impossible – the ‘scramble suits’ that protect undercover agents from even their fellow officers, constantly shifting visually and clicking through visual signifiers. Even though the world is drawn and comic-book – reminiscent of Vertigo DC titles or computer game cut-scenes, an existential point-and-click – and the visuals can get trippy, the animated style is still beholden to realism and relatability, which clearly speaks to director Richard Linklater’s touch. On a basic level, this is a hang out movie: a flop-house of drug users and pushers, running into mischief during the day to day grind, comical misadventures just in an everyday expedition outside. Yet the layered interior perspective of Keanu Reeves’ character provides a deep melancholic vibe, the character’s fractured identities as drug user, undercover narc and passive witness, his participation in a world of surveillance and tracking to the point where he doesn’t even know who he is. This unique iteration of sci-fi paranoia is aided considerably by Graham Reynolds’ score and the occasional Radiohead needle drop. An underrated, beautifully laid-back and sad take on drug culture and government enforcement. Also: not having seen this since it was released, I didn’t realise that Alex Jones has a bit part where he plays a ranting guy who gets tagged and bagged by a SWAT van. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 