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Are You Afraid of the Dark?
It should come as no surprise that Matrix trilogy veteran Keanu Reeves was cast as the lead in Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel about drugs and paranoia in a police state seven years in our future. The role of Bob Arctor, a personality split between a Substance D addict and a faceless undercover "Agent Fred" charged with narcing himself out, is one that perhaps only Reeves can master, so seasoned is his familiarity with altered mental states. And, after watching the film, it seems only natural that Linklater was the one responsible for bringing the tale to the screen: his patented rotoscoping technique, in which he computer animates live action film, is the perfect medium for bringing the audience into the same anxious haze as the characters. In fact, there's not much surprising about the makeup of A Scanner Darkly - it is even being praised as the most faithful word-to-screen translations that Dick's work has received. The only surprise, then, is how well it all works together.
Reeve's Arctor is a homeowner who hosts a threesome of other druggie layabouts: James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), and Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder), none of whom know that Arctor spends his days dressed in a scramble suit - a jumpsuit that allows him to see out but is visible as randomized rotating body parts to those looking at him - rewatching their life and trying to break down the underground that produces Substance D. And, in a way, Arctor doens't realize it either. One of the side effects of D is a disconnect between the two hemispheres of the brain, and the substance has turned Arctor and "Fred" into two different people unaware that they share the same body. Even as Barris runs to the cops to rat out his buddies in exchange for unpromsied immunity, "Fred" listens intently, eager to bust Arctor. The duality creates a dark, paranoid, and intriguing maze.
The star of the movie, though Reeves is the focus, is Downey. Maybe it's that he knows what it's like to be an addict, maybe it's that he's the only one in the cast who could think past the live action filming to see what his actions would look like rotoscoped, but his jittery portrayal of Barris brings out the best animation in the film. His performance is disturbed, fractioned, and brilliant, and with Harrelson as a comic sidekick, he ratchets up the funny. Reeves plays Arctor in the same way he played Neo: overwhelmed, confused, and yet somehow distanced from the weight of the plot. The only way that this doesn't work is that it's hard to differentiate between Reeves as Arctor and Reeves as "Fred." This, of course, is likely an intentional choice, but it adds to the viewer's confusion.
The script is baffling, and, like many adaptations of Dick's writings, may take more than one viewing to completely understand. But, under Linklater's direction, the form that the confusion takes on screen is one that will stick with you long after you've finally figured out what it all meant.
Rating: * * * 1/2 of 5
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sjuhawk31) wrote,
