A Scanner Darkly: Richard Linklater

I actually decided to read the original novel by Philip K. Dick before giving Richard Linklater's adaptation of A Scanner Darkly a watch. To my delight, Linklater's film rivals only Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002) as the best onscreen depiction of Dick's paranoiac sensibilities. Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is a masterpiece, but it substitutes the original novel's proto-cyberpunk anxieties with neo-noir chic (although he did preserve the post-humanist undercurrents). A Scanner Darkly masterfully replicates the dread and emptiness of the life of communal addicts--at least according to Dick's description. Truth be told, though, I didn't like to last 20 minutes. Donna's last scene cried out for cross-cutting with Bob Arctor's discovery of the true source of Substance D. Also, Keanu Reeves' performance in the last few minutes was woefully lacking. He played these scenes almost exactly like he did the rest of the film. I didn't buy him being a near-catatonic, brain-dead addict.

7/10