A Scanner Darkly

The Good:
I enjoyed the book when I read it so of course I enjoyed the story here as well. Philip K. Dick is a brilliant writer so the story is solid.

All three of the auxiliary characters played by Robert Downey Jr. , Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane were wonderfully played. They were fun to watch and laugh out loud funny at times which is exactly how I felt about them in the books.

The Bad:
The animation was... bothersome. I understand they just filmed the scenes and drew over them but it was like they didn't take the time to line them up correctly half the time so people's faces distorted and moved in ways they shouldn't. This detracted from the film.

I am not a fan of either Keanu Reeves or Winona Rider and this film didn't do anything to help either of them for me. They both seem to always be stilted and non-existent in anything they're a part of. Scanner was no exception. In the book, though addled by drugs, Reeves' character was dynamic and interesting. In the film he was flat and you just didn't care what happened to him. Caring what happened to him was the central emotion of the book. Rider on the other hand was dealt a character who in the book you both sympathized with and despised. In the film you just despised her.

Over all:
For me this is another read the book, skip the movie. Or perhaps read the book, skip any scene of the movie that does not include Rory, Woody or Robert.