Who is the Audience for This Movie?

Fans of trippy sci-fi movies.

What I Liked About This Movie

Right from the start you know you’re in for an interesting visual ride. A Scanner Darkly utilizes a visual style called Rotoscoping which involves shooting your footage then tracing over everything with a distinct style. In the case of this movie its use is fairly advanced. It never bores and as the movie goes on it really starts to sell the mood the movie is going for. Style is not everything though so it was good to see all of the actors putting in fantastic performances (Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Robert Downey Jr.) that mesh well with what the makers of the movie were going for.

What really surprised me is how much the movie tricks you into thinking it’s just another trippy heavy handed movie then slams you with a big reveal near the end. As the movie rolled on I began to get tired of not really knowing what was going on and it made me appreciate the movie a lot more.

What Didn’t Work For Me

A Scanner Darkly’s biggest flaw is that it is interesting but not entertaining. It’s not type of movie you finish and have a big smile on your face; instead, you are much more likely to be sitting there in a pondering what you just viewed. The main reason for this is the very heavy dialogue that deals with concepts that are fairly philosophical and after a while it begins to wear thin.

Should You Watch This Movie?

Many people will not be able to look past its faults. If you will like it or not mostly depends on how interested you are in the visual style of the movie.

My Rating (Out of 13)