Ani-MAY-tion Month: A Scanner Darkly (2006)

There have been many movies adapted from the works of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, and a number of those movies have been fantastic (yes, I'm thinking mainly of Total Recall and Blade Runner). Most of the movie adaptations, however, have failed to translate some of his more interesting ideas from page to screen. Screamers may have had some identity crises and paranoia in the mix, but it still didn't delve deep enough into the territory that Dick returned to on numerous occasions.

Keanu Reeves stars as Bob Arctor, an undercover operative who is fraying at the edges. He's supposed to be investigating sources of a drug named Substance D, but instead seems to spend too much time addicted to the damn thing and hanging out with fellow addicts, Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane), James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), as well as his sorta-girlfriend, Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder). Things get stranger for him when he is tasked with surveilling . . . . . . . himself, although the superiors assigning him to keep a closer eye on Bob Arctor don't know that he actually IS Bob Arctor (all agents work in disguise as an added safety measure).

Directed, and adapted into movie form, by Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly is a strange, smart, and unique experience. The plot may wind towards a bleak third act, but there's plenty of humour in the first hour or so, and the characters/cast all do well at holding your attention while often talking about things that seem meaningless. Although "seem" is the key word there.

Everyone involved gives a great performance, with Downey Jr. on top form, but, because of the rotoscoping technique used, praise must also go to the animators who worked on the film. Yes, all of the stars are pretty recognisable, but they're all slightly hidden under a layer of animation. This may seem like an odd choice, but makes perfect sense when you see Arctor working in his scramble suit - a suit that constantly changes to make identification of the wearer impossible. It also helps with the overall tone of the movie, and the more hallucinatory aspects.

Science fiction that treads scarily close to science fact, A Scanner Darkly isn't guaranteed to please everyone (I know, I know, no movie does that, but you know what I mean). I hope, however, that people at least give it a try and help to build its small, but loyal, fanbase.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Scanner-Darkly-Widescreen-Keanu-Reeves/dp/B000JMK6LW/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1400268529&sr=1-2&keywords=a+scanner+darkly

Don't forget, every copy of my book sold gets a few pounds in my pocket, and gets you a good read (if I say so myself).

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Toad Road (2012)

Oh god, I just don't care. No, I don't care about this movie in the slightest. And, given how little writer-director Jason Banker seems to care for any viewers, I feel that my disdain is justified. This is, and I truly mean this, a film full of characters that it's almost impossible to care about taking part in certain events that it's almost impossible to care about. Cover that over with a coating of technical proficiency and something could have been salvaged, but there's not even that saving grace here.

People have been quick to point out how spooky it is that leading actress Sara Anne Jones died soon after the film was complete, from a drug overdose. While I'm not going to say that I don't care about her death (I'm sure those who loved her were shocked and saddened, of course), I will say that it doesn't make this awful film any better. In fact, it kinda makes it worse to realise just how little going onscreen seems to have been acting.

The plot, and I use the word in its loosest sense, concerns a bunch of people who like to do nothing more than get so wasted that they have no control over their own bodies. James Davidson plays James, and Sara Anne Jones plays Sara . . . . . . . and how I wish for the days when actors, or even people roped into acting, were able to remember the name of an actual character instead of just using their own name. James has spent a LOT of time using drugs and wasting his life. Sara wants him to help her experience something truly memorable, something psychedelic, something that may have to involve Toad Road. Local legend has it that the area known as Toad Road actually allows people, in the right frame of mind, to pass through the gates of Hell. And that's what Sara wants to experience.

I realise that Banker obviously had an interesting idea, one concerning altered states of mind and self-destruction, but he's buried it under so much unwatchable awfulness that many viewers will take nothing away from the movie once the end credits roll. There are some (perhaps even many) who will argue that it's a great work of art, and a truly great experimental bit of psychedelia, and they are entitled to their opinion, just as I am entitled to think that I consider it an amateur mess, not helped in the slightest by the cast (most of them were actually just found getting drunk and high and out of control, just like they are shown in the footage during the first half of the movie).

I recommend avoiding this one completely. In fact, cross the street if you see a store that has a copy of it for sale. Unless you're rich enough to buy all of the stock available and then burn them in a sacrificial pyre, dancing and chanting in a way that may provide us with a dozen better movies written and directed by people who can work with actors and use a camera effectively.

2/10

http://www.amazon.com/Toad-Road-Sara-Anne-Jones/dp/B00F878K0W/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1390837543&sr=1-2&keywords=toad+road