A Scanner Darkly

Director Richard Linklater returns to the animated world in this utterly hypnotic cinematic trip based on Philip K. Dick's (barely) futuristic novel about addiction and surveillance. This is one major release that should skip the formalities and go straight to the cult world, where it will be most appreciated. Fascinating and faithful to the source material, the film was shot as live action and then animated using the rotoscoping technique Linklater employed in 2001's Waking Life. The results are more sophisticated here, mesmerizing and thrillingly original within the context of this surreal tale. Keanu Reeves is an undercover narc whose work has turned him into an addict himself. Throw in a drug-dealing girlfriend (Winona Ryder) and you have a duplicitous web of deceit and delusion. The animation gives the audience the sense that they could be on the same drug-induced journey. Although not for every taste, A Scanner Darkly succeeds in giving Dick's decades-old story new pertinence.