A Scanner Darkly

[samsong]

consider the source...

[modage]

no i wouldnt limit it either.  but at the screening i saw the film at reeves and downey jr. introduced the film as basically a comedy and told us not to be afraid to laugh.

consider the source...

yeah, you're right.  they're only the actors in the film.

[modage]

http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/670/670907/vids_1.html

[samsong]

talk about missing the point.  but that's okay. 

[picolas]

the first 24 minutes were much better than i thought they might be. except the scramble suit is surprisingly annoying.

[hedwig]

http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/670/670907/vids_1.html

if there's anything goatse taught us, it's that you should always specify what is contained in a link when you post one.

[MacGuffin]

A Scanner Comic-type Interview

Mike Russell is a man with a plan - and that plan means doing something really friggin' groovy with his interviews, and his latest one with Richard linklater for "A Scanner Darkly" is fittingly done in comic strip form.

http://homepage.mac.com/merussell/iblog/B835531044/C1162162177/E20060717001411/index.html

[Gamblour.]

A Scanner Darkly? More like "A Sleeper Quickly."

That's actually what Joel Siegel said when he stormed out...

[Sunrise]

I was completely unprepared for the sadness and despair I felt throughout this film...and especially the second half. Spoilers--By the time Arctor has passed the point of no return, I was thoroughly depressed--End Spoilers.

Many comments on this thread focus on the film's comedic aspects, yet the audience I saw this with chuckled only a few times (at Downey and Harrelson). I attribute some of that to the fact the numbers were minimal, but really it was an audience, to its credit, that couldn't be tricked into a laugh. I found the score and the soundtrack primarily indicative of the general feelings I had watching Scanner. While not what I expected when the lights went down, it is highly recommended.

[The Sheriff]

RK, i agree with ya. who do you think wouldve made a better job with this film? (would cronenebrg have been too obvious?)

[RegularKarate]

RK, i agree with ya. who do you think wouldve made a better job with this film? (would cronenebrg have been too obvious?)

Obvious isn't always bad. 

I think that Linklater could have done a great job with this if he had gone another direction.
Also, some combonation of Kaufman and Linklater's script would have been cool.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I agree that it's a comedy. For me, Keanu Reeves's moping didn't arouse sympathy... it just made me impatient for the Robert Downey Jr. scenes. I never really felt that he was in serious trouble. Maybe I was too focused on the visuals. Which brings me to my big question. What was with the live action constantly creeping in? Were they just lazy (I know that the animation is a lot of work) or were they trying to say something, or a combination of the two?

[Gold Trumpet]

It was a so-so experience for me. The ideas in this film were interesting, but its yet another film that showcases those ideas on the outskirts of a plot that dominates the entire film. The ending of the movie invited me to think about those ideas. I wish the film challenged me the entire way through.

It is a comedy and I wished I laughed more. Downey was playing himself and could only be enjoyed with good dialogue (which wasn't often). Harrelson, funnier at playing himself than Downey is, had a muted role that made me wish he had more to do.

The reason I'm not completely pissing on this film is because of one scene. The suicide attempt by the character Freck is comic genius. I wish more comedies were as high minded as just that one scene was. I found myself only smiling because I was stunned at how well written and executed it was.