A Scanner Darkly 2006

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: As plentiful as its ideas are, A Scanner Darkly often feels hollow, and more than a little monotonous, because Linklater has not quite succeeded in overcoming the aggressively uncinematic nature of Dick's novel. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: Like its protagonist, Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly suffers from a schizoid identity crisis. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Watching A Scanner Darkly, we can feel [Philip K.] Dick's world close in on us. And we can be glad we're only visitors. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's a pity it doesn't have more oomph, because the book is arguably Dick's masterpiece, and as brain-rattling today as when it came out in 1977. Read more

Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper: The movie probably involves more dialogue and less action than some people will expect; it's about the nature of a life where you can never be sure what or who is real. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The film as a whole may be lacking in coherence and emotional punch, but there are some marvelous sequences. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: A head-trip that never gets beneath the skin. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: As Dick's vision matches up with our times, so does director Richard Linklater's animation technique match the story's material. A Scanner Darkly is a joyful wedding of medium and message. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: This is a movie about losing one's grip and like any addict's story, it's boring, ugly, sad, and terribly human. And surprisingly funny. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: The brilliance of A Scanner Darkly is how it suggests, without bombast or fanfare, the ways in which the real world has come to resemble the dark world of comic books. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: An ambitious animated adaptation of one of the most personal novels by sci-fi visionary Philip K. Dick. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: The first film to capture the author's transience and his art. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's the kind of movie that gets under your skin -- and stays there. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: The artiness gets in the way of thrilling plot twists; we're still trying to sort out images when we should be sorting out facts. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Here's a guy willing to take risks, willing to tackle challenging material, willing to assume his audience has a brain. Unfortunately, his audience's collective brain is going to be hurting mightily for the first hour of this film. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: In A Scanner Darkly, we're watching other people freak out, but the film is maddening to sit through because their freak-outs never become ours. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Although the story is greatly enhanced by the mesmerizing visual design, it is also involving because of the duplicity and duality of the characters. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Much like someone who doesn't realize how high he is, A Scanner Darkly talks too much and doesn't say enough. Read more

Christopher Orr, L.A. Weekly: In a film that's largely about the internal life of Bob/Fred, [Keanu] Reeves is at pains to show that he has one. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: The risks Scanner Darkly takes both with its subject matter and its method make it difficult to dismiss. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Aesthetically interesting as it is, the film leaves you feeling somewhat blank and detached, sort of like the main character. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: The coolest thing about the movie version of A Scanner Darkly is how very literally it takes the scanner part of that title. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Fans of the late sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick may rejoice at the news that Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly is the most faithful adaptation of one of his stories to reach the screen. Unfortunately, the story is one of Dick's least cinematic. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Mr. Linklater emerges once again as the Austin auteur par excellence, even if A Scanner Darkly is set in a ratty precinct of Orange County. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Linklater's willingness to experiment ... is laudable. But I'm not sure he's reinventing animation here, or even adequately serving that older-than-children animation audience. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A Scanner Darkly is always interesting, but it's not always involving, and it's even less often entertaining. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: For science fiction fans who prefer ideas over laser battles, this is the most meticulous and faithful movie adaptation of Dick's work -- and one of the most thoughtful. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: As A Scanner Darkly proves, Keanu is the Coolness -- passive blankness, leaden line delivery, and all. Let's hear it for the vague blur. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Richard Linklater's squiggly new film, A Scanner Darkly, is an ambitious attempt to find the right visual style to render the experience of drug addiction and the paranoid vision of novelist Philip K. Dick, into a distinctive visual form. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: As fascinating and intelligent as the movie is, A Scanner Darkly leaves you wishing it might have actually been less faithful in word, and more in spirit, to Philip K. Dick's universe of bugged-out paranoid weirdness. Read more

Ben Walters, Time Out: Wondrously attractive, all the more so for the avoidance (with one or two exceptions) of extrovert Waking Life-style set-pieces. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A Scanner Darkly is a visually riveting mind-bender inspired by drug-induced experiences. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Plot point by plot point, the film seems more concerned with achieving a lucid retelling of the novel's events, resulting in an almost disappointingly well-behaved sci-fi noir that's mildly provocative rather than visionary. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: This straightforward version of Dick's anguished vision of drug-addled addiction makes Naked Lunch seem positively romantic. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: The characters look as though they have been flattened inside a glass slide, a perfect visual reflection of their political and psychological binds. Read more