review #55: A scanner Darkly

Having the name Philip means that anyone who is a Philip K. Dick fan will ask you if you've ever read his books. When you say no, they tell you you should. So, I've heard of the guy. Having not read any of his books, I didn't know what the hell this movie was about. But some friends of mine were going and I tagged along. These friends were PKD fans, and would talk about him, but they didn't try to sell me on his work, wich I appreciated. From what I knew about PKD, the one thing I expected from this movie was to not know what was going on. It helps if you just remind yourself that the main character is crazy, having taken too much Substance-D, a fictional, highly-addictive drug. By that token, all of the other characters are crazy, too. There is what seems to be a coherent plot, but thankfully no moral lesson. At the end there is a message from PKD in memorium of his friends, but I can't tell what exactly he's trying to say. The cast was really strange...we had Keanu, who I think it is universally agreed that he simply can't act, Wynonna Ryder and Robert downey Jr, who got caught stealing and went drug crazy (respectivley)and also can't act, and Woody harrelson, who...well, what the hell has he done latley. Even in this movie some of my friends compared his role to that of Jar Jar Binks; not only was it not necessary, but the movie would've been better without it. And I swear I thought the voice Keanus COp boss was Tim Allen, but the credits say Sean Allen. A relative? This whole movie is done in a bizzare animation-over-film that was done in "the waking life", only this time it seems more detailed. maybe advancment in technology, I dont know. It is fun to watch, especially the parts with the scramble suits wich I can't even begin to describe. Parts can get really intense, again, especially parts with the scramble suits. There are also some humorous scenes that I don't think could've been pulled off with regular film. One suggestion when watching this movie....makle sure you're in a theatre with comfortable seats. The Egyptian didn't have them.