Although they had been used in one form or another for hundreds if not thousands of years, drugs didn't really hit the mainstream until the 1960s along with many other "revolutions" and counter-culture movements. It didn't take long for increasingly stronger drugs to become commonplace and it was deemed hip in some circles to experiment with the latest hallucinogenic.
Some of the more ardent users were those in the entertainment industry who found that such substances seemingly improved their creative output and/or helped them relax in what's often a rather stressful business. Not surprisingly, such experimentation, occasional use and/or addiction eventually made it into those people's works, sometimes celebratory in nature, while at others it was admonitory.
Accordingly, it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that author Philip K. Dick would be one of those people. Known for his mind and reality bending short stories and novels, Dick became a hardcore user of amphetamines and dropped out of writing for several years before returning in 1977 with the cautionary tale, "A Scanner Darkly."
Reportedly named in part for the biblical verse "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (I Corinthians 13:12), it was yet another sci-fi tale of examining reality in terms of how one defines his or her self and the "reality" in which they exist.
Now, nearly a quarter century after the author's death (that some attribute to his continued drug use), director Richard Linklater has brought the tale to the big screen in a film by the same name. Quite interesting but sometimes rather slow and confused about what sort of movie it wants to be (it would be great to say that's purposeful in mirroring the plight of the main character, but that might be giving the film too much credit), the film benefits from what may become the director's signature style.
And that's rotoscoping, the process where live performers are filmed and then any sort of animation is traced over top of them and their surroundings. It's become increasingly popular in contemporary TV commercials (where the people appear animated, but the mannerisms are -- understandably enough -- quite realistic) and was the "cool" part of A-Ha's "Take on Me" music video from so long ago. But Linklater made it his own -- and was obviously a labor of love -- in 2001's full-length "Waking Life."
While the effect could easily turn from a neat visual to an annoying gimmick, it's a perfect fit for this story about paranoid drug users and the undercover narcotics agent who's sent in to infiltrate them, but becomes torn apart -- mentally -- by his growing addiction to the drug he's investigating. Thus, the various delusions -- paranoid or not -- are easily manufactured by Linklater's artists getting a little creative with their "stenciling" on and around the characters.
However, the beauty of the story -- adapted by Linklater from Dick's original work -- is with the identity confusion and misdirection planted within the main characters. The protagonist -- credibly portrayed by Keanu Reeves -- has suffered a mental split of sorts in his cranial hemispheres, brought on by the drug use. Wearing a "scramble suit" that constantly changes his outward appearance and voice, not even his superiors know who he is or what he looks or sounds like.
The fun twist then -- at least in concept -- is that they then order him to watch himself as a user and possible dealer (when he's at home sans the shape-shifting suit), not realizing the conundrum in which they've placed the undercover agent. And with him becoming increasingly unstable due to his drug-induced hallucinations, who knows how he's going to act and/or where the story might be headed.
While that's rather compelling and may have been quite the page-turner in print, it's not quite as exciting as it might sound when it finally hits the screen. Boiled down to the basics, the problem is with both the pacing and occasional lack of focus in terms of plot. Although it's a stroke of genius casting known drug users Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson in supporting roles (and they have the drug life performances down pat), the film is notably talking and somewhat cerebral.
Not, to quote Mr. Seinfeld, that there's anything wrong with that, but after a while all of the chatting starts to drag down the film's pacing and momentum. And with the direction of the storyline constantly zigging and zagging, some viewers may give up on this drug trip before its destination is reached. Nevertheless, there will still be those compelled by the plot's various themes that also include the '60s era mistrust of governmental intrusion in citizen's lives.
Dedicated at the end (as in the book) to Dick's friends who were killed or damaged by drug use, the film perfectly captures the drug subculture, its users and their paranoia about those trying to catch and/or stop them. But as a narrative piece of storytelling, it gets bogged down in and by its own trappings and structure. It's certainly not a bad drug trip, it's just one that's not as much fun as one would have guessed right before partaking in it. "A Scanner Darkly" rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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