# I just watched A Scanner Darkly. I'm now pissed off **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972 "2008-12-06T07:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rattlehead02](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rattlehead02/32/3944_2.png) [@Rattlehead02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rattlehead02)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/1 "2008-12-06T07:21:36Z")
First off, the Roto Scoping, or whatever, was annoying. But that’s a minor complaint. The movie bored me to tears, and I really wanted to like it. Towards the end it looked like we might get a nice mind fuck, or something to make my last hour and a half have meaning. Instead we got a mind shitburger. So, the feds are going through all this trouble to find the source of this mysterious drug? Don’t they have spy planes? I hate this movie so much for seemingly looking like an enjoyable indie type flick and turning out to be, um, er, SHIT! Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/2 "2008-12-06T09:01:44Z")
Well, one thing you might have missed is that The Feds, or at least some of them, are in on it, as is the major rehab program. That’s the main reason for the scramble suits and the protocol around their use – like only one person can be in the changing area at a time and they enter and leave by separate doors – so a possibly bent operator can’t identify a co-worker and have him/her killed or dosed into insanity. . Also, I think the headfuck is supposed to be more about what’s going on in Bob/Fred’s increasingly deteriorated mind, more than involving any outside consiracy. I’m sorry the movie pissed you off and bored you, **Gilded Lily** ; personally, I liked it a lot – and speaking as someone who really digs the book and was afraid they’d mess it up totally, I was pleasantly shocked by how well the queasy, dreamlike feel of the original was preserved in the film. To my way of thinking the rotoscoping was just about the only way they could translate a lot of the stuff in the book onto film. May I suggest that you give the book a try? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/3 "2008-12-06T10:07:31Z")
There were a number of elements in the book which were left out of the film, rather inexplicably, IMHO. The film captured certain elements of the book correctly, but missed on a few key elements, IMHO. Putting Keanu in the film was a big mistake, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/4 "2008-12-06T11:50:59Z")
I liked it, although it took me a bit of time to settle into the rotoscope look of it. One thing that amused me was that in the book his bicycle had (iirc) 7 gears, but Hollywood had to improve that to 13 (iirc), which was a completely pointless minor change in the script, but was obviously bigger and better! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/5 "2008-12-06T12:45:12Z")
I’m in agreement. I just saw it a few weeks ago. Bored the piss out of me. The rotoscoping did not add to the movie at all. I will never see another film from this director. It may be the second worst movie that I’ve seen this year. (I’ve seen some pretty bad movies.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/6 "2008-12-06T14:14:33Z")
> [@GildedLily](#): > > So, the feds are going through all this trouble to find the source of this mysterious drug? Don’t they have spy planes? You couldn’t see the drugs unless you were crawling on the ground, i thought that was pretty obvious at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/7 "2008-12-06T14:22:31Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > You couldn’t see the drugs unless you were crawling on the ground, i thought that was pretty obvious at the end. Indeed. _Mors ontologica_ was specifically described as being tiny blue flowers very close to the ground, as opposed to the big, bushy plants pot growers need to conceal.The fact they were being grown at the New Path facility means the government’s involvement with the drug’s production is probably quite deep. I’ll have to review the book, but I think Donna’s conversation with her contact makes this more explicit. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/8 "2008-12-06T14:28:48Z")
I wanted to like this film- I really did- but, like the OP, it just ended up boring me. I liked the Rotoscoping, though- it was very well done and suited the movie perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/9 "2008-12-06T15:24:53Z")
Count me as another one who love the movie. I think Robert Downey Jr. owns then entire movie. Sorry you didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/10 "2008-12-06T18:00:40Z")
Too bad you didn’t like it - it’s one of my favorite animated movies. The rotoscope may not have been necessary, but I felt that it added a hazy, drugged out feel to everything. I’d keep it. And, though Keanu wouldn’t be my first choice, I think he did all right, everything considered. It also has one of my favorite all time line reads from Robert Downey Jr. When Baris is carrying his new bike into the house, he’s so high and excited that he can’t get his words out and just starts babbling, “Total! Total! Total! Total! Totally! Total!” I don’t know why I love that so much, but I do. I think Scanner works better as a movie about paranoia and codependent relationships and drug addicts falling apart than it does as a government conspiracy movie. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/11 "2008-12-06T20:14:21Z")
I thought it was stupid, too, and the rotoscoping totally distracted from a GOOD plot. I had to go on Wiki to even figure out what the fuck I just watched. I’m not quite as pissed about it as Blair Witch Project; like I said, it was a good plot - but OMG the boredom. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/12 "2008-12-06T21:35:49Z")
_A Scanner Darkly_ is my favourite Philip K. Dick novel, and I followed the development of the movie with equal parts excitement and trepidation for more than seven years, and through several different writers, directors, and casts. I was not disappointed - it’s the only film that even comes close to a faithful adaptation of Dick’s work (with the exception of the French-language _Confessions d’un Barjo_) and is pretty much bang-on. In the end, the movie ended up meaning a lot to me for the same reasons that the books does. I can see that you might be disappointed if you were all set for a by-the-numbers Hollywood Sci-Fi epic, and then sat through what turned out to be a deeply personal _roman à clef_ about the effects of drug abuse. It has moments of bitter comedy, but it’s a pure-and-simple tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/13 "2008-12-07T06:56:23Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’m in agreement. I just saw it a few weeks ago. Bored the piss out of me. The rotoscoping did not add to the movie at all. I will never see another film from this director. Not even _Dazed and Confused_? _Before Sunrise_? _Before Sunset_? _School of Rock_? ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/14 "2008-12-07T07:20:09Z")
'Fess up, now – who else found the opening sequence (Charles Freck yeeping and gibbering in the throes of a phantom aphid attack) totally freaking hilarious? ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/15 "2008-12-07T14:53:55Z")
I’ve never read the book or anything by else by the author that published it, and watching this movie reeeeally didn’t make me want to. It had a laugh out loud moment or two, but other than that I was bored out of my mind and felt slightly offended by the stupid ending. ---
**Author:** ![tzimmerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@tzimmerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tzimmerman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/16 "2008-12-09T17:15:12Z")
I agree. I usually like Richard Linklater movies. I thought waking life was fantastic. Scanner Darkly just felt like…kitsch, I suppose? Definitely boring. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/17 "2008-12-09T18:48:25Z")
I saw it long ago and all I can really remember was thinking that it was a waste of time. Vague bits from the movie and the closing scene. OTOH, it was better than Running Man. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/18 "2008-12-09T19:42:42Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Indeed. _Mors ontologica_ was specifically described as being tiny blue flowers very close to the ground, as opposed to the big, bushy plants pot growers need to conceal. So did you like the tribute in Batman Begins? ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/19 "2008-12-09T21:12:46Z")
I don’t particularly like Phillip K Dick but I still liked A Scanner Darkly. You know why? Because I listened to it on audiobook as read by Paul Giamatti. I loved listening to him so much he could have read Go, Dog, Go! and I would have found it enthralling. I haven’t seen the movie yet and honestly I probably won’t, simply because I find the story to be lacking, but I loved listening to it on my iPod. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972/20 "2008-12-09T21:32:31Z")
Liked. Very much, liked. How could anyone say it was boring? That I do not get. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-scanner-darkly-im-now-pissed-off/475972.md?page=2)