IMDb > A Scanner Darkly (2006)
A Scanner Darkly
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A Scanner Darkly (2006) More at IMDbPro »

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A Scanner Darkly (2006) -- An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
A Scanner Darkly (2006) -- An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
A Scanner Darkly (2006) -- CineMagia.ro - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   37,594 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Richard Linklater
Writers (WGA):
Philip K. Dick (novel)
Richard Linklater (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for A Scanner Darkly on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
28 July 2006 (USA) more
Genre:
Animation | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller more
Tagline:
What Does A Scanner See? more
Plot:
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
2 wins & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(71 articles)
Linklater Experiences the Unemployed Life
 (From Cinema Blend. 17 November 2009, 8:19 AM, PST)
Richard Linklater's Latest Project on Hold, Also Says School of Rock 2 Not Likely
 (From ReelzChannel. 17 November 2009, 3:28 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Gratitude more (276 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (complete, awaiting verification)

Rory Cochrane ... Charles Freck

Robert Downey Jr. ... James Barris

Mitch Baker ... Brown Bear Lodge Host

Keanu Reeves ... Bob Arctor
Sean Allen ... Additional Fred Scramble Suit Voice (voice)
Cliff Haby ... Voice from Headquarters (voice)

Steven Chester Prince ... Cop

Winona Ryder ... Donna Hawthorne

Natasha Valdez ... Waitress
Mark Turner ... Additional Hank Scramble Suit Voice (voice)

Woody Harrelson ... Ernie Luckman

Chamblee Ferguson ... Medical Deputy #2

Angela Rawna ... Medical Deputy #1

Eliza Stevens ... Arctor's Daughter #1

Sarah Menchaca ... Arctor's Daughter #2

Melody Chase ... Arctor's Wife
Leif Anders ... Freck Suicide Narrator (voice)
Turk Pipkin ... Creature
Alex Jones ... Street Prophet

Lisa Marie Newmyer ... Connie

Wilbur Penn ... Medical Officer #1

Ken Webster ... Medical Officer #2

Hugo Perez ... New Path Staff Member #1
Rommel Sulit ... New Path Staff Member #2

Dameon Clarke ... Mike
Christopher Ryan ... New Path Resident #1

Leila Plummer ... New Path Resident #2

Jason Douglas ... New Path Farm Manager

Marco Perella ... Donald
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Jack Cruz ... Police Officer (uncredited)
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Directed by
Richard Linklater 
 
Writing credits
(WGA)
Philip K. Dick (novel "A Scanner Darkly")

Richard Linklater (screenplay)

Produced by
George Clooney .... executive producer
Ben Cosgrove .... executive producer
Erin Ferguson .... co-producer
Jennifer Fox .... executive producer
Sara Johnson .... associate producer (as Sara Greene)
Tommy Pallotta .... producer
John Sloss .... executive producer
Jonah Smith .... producer
Steven Soderbergh .... executive producer
Erwin Stoff .... producer
Anne Walker-McBay .... producer
Palmer West .... producer
 
Original Music by
Graham Reynolds 
 
Cinematography by
Shane F. Kelly (director of photography)
 
Film Editing by
Sandra Adair 
 
Casting by
Denise Chamian 
 
Production Design by
Bruce Curtis 
 
Set Decoration by
Joaquin A. Morin 
 
Costume Design by
Kari Perkins 
 
Makeup Department
Katina Gilkey .... hair stylist
Darylin Nagy .... hair department head
Darylin Nagy .... makeup department head
 
Production Management
Susan Kirr .... unit production manager
Ravi D. Mehta .... executive in charge of production (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vincent Palmo Jr. .... first assistant director
Andrew Payer .... second second assistant director
Katie Tull .... second assistant director (as Kathleen Tull)
 
Art Department
Rodney Becker .... lead
Brad Blei .... set dresser (as Bradley Blei)
Raymond Consing .... storyboard artist
Fred Daniel .... art department coordinator
Melanie Ferguson .... on-set dresser
Erick Garibay .... assistant property master
Ian Sebastian Kasnoff .... construction coordinator
Kara Sutherlin .... lead scenic
Pierre Vial .... set dresser
Stefan Wilcox .... property master
Bart Bryant .... carpenter (uncredited)
Jarrette Moats .... property assistant (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Ethan Andrus .... production sound mixer
Gregg Barbanell .... foley artist
Wayne Bell .... additional sound effects editor
Paul Berolzheimer .... additional sound effects editor
Ajae Clearway .... adr editor
Ajae Clearway .... dialogue editor
Tom Hammond .... sound designer
Tom Hammond .... sound re-recording mixer
Tom Hammond .... supervising sound editor
Justin Hennard .... sound designer
Justin Hennard .... sound effects editor
Skip Lievsay .... sound re-recording mixer
Thomas J. O'Connell .... adr mixer (as Tom O'Connell)
Jeremy Peirson .... sound re-recording mixer (as Jeremy Pierson)
Jason Piatt .... foley mixer
Tom Sturgis .... boom operator (as Tom 'Sturge' Sturgis)
Michael Swanner .... utility sound
Peter Germansen .... sound engineer: ICON (uncredited)
Bob Kellough .... additional sound effects recordist (uncredited)
 
Special Effects by
Steve Krieger .... special effects coordinator
Randy E. Moore .... special effects coordinator (uncredited)
 
Visual Effects by
Richard Gordoa .... visual effects supervisor
Josh Novak .... lead compositor: main title sequence
Jerry Poynton .... digital post-production manager (as Jerome Poynton)
Ruedi Schick .... digital film recording supervisor
Randy Cole .... 3D modeler and compositor (uncredited)
Bob Sabiston .... animation software (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Tod Campbell .... loader
Matt Cowan .... best boy grip
Matt Lankes .... still photographer
Mikey Reyes .... grip
Robert B. Reynolds .... chief lighting technician
Peter Simonite .... first assistant camera
Josh Taylor .... assistant chief lighting technician
Atom Vyvial .... key grip (as Aaron Atom Vyvial)
Ralph Watson .... camera operator
Patrick B. Coate .... camera production assistant (uncredited)
Wes Dixon .... electrical intern (uncredited)
Donald R. Howe Jr. .... additional second assistant camera (uncredited)
Peter Simonite .... camera operator (uncredited)
Ezra Venetos .... grip (uncredited)
 
Animation Department
Paul Adam .... animator
Paul Ahern .... animator
Sterling Allen .... lead animator
Kevin Ang .... animator
Jason Archer .... head of animation
Joseph R. Barker .... animator
Benjamin Bays .... animator (as Ben Bays)
Paul Beck .... head of animation
Blue Bliss .... assistant lead animator
John Bruch .... animator
John Buckley .... animator
Evan Cagle .... lead animator
Mike Cervantes .... additional animator
Jason Chalker .... animator
Chris Chappell .... additional animator
Randy Cole .... additional animator
Melita Curphy .... animator
Nick Derington .... lead animator
Matt Drake .... animator
Jennifer Drummond .... additional animator
Peat Duggins .... animator
Pat Duke .... animator
Ben Dunn .... animator
Rahab El Ewely .... animator (as Rahab El Ewaly)
Holly Fisher .... additional animator
Michael P. Garza .... animator
Greg Geisler .... animator
Justin Goldwater .... animator
Zach Hall .... animator
Ryan Hennessee .... animator
Dean Hsieh .... animator
Sherard Jackson .... animator
Kennon James .... animator
Christopher S. Jennings .... lead animator (as C.S. Jennings)
Nathan Jensen .... animator
Mike Layne .... additional animator
Vivian Le .... animator (as Vivian P. Le)
Monique Ligons .... additional animator
Amalia Litsa .... animator
David Marquez .... animator
Jonathan Marshall .... additional animator
Lance Myers .... lead animator
Katy O'Connor .... additional animator
Harris O'Malley .... additional animator
Ryan A. Parker .... assistant lead animator (as Ryan Parker)
John Paul .... animator
Kevin Peake .... animator
Glenn Perkins .... animator
Thomas P. Reidy III .... animator
Joseph Riley .... animator
Bob Sabiston .... head of animation
Susan Sabiston .... animator
Aaron Sacco .... animator
F. Joseph Santori .... animator
Leah Sharpe .... animator
Dan Shuta .... animator
Craig Matthew Staggs .... animator
Jason Stout .... animator
J. Michael Stovall .... animator
Patrick Thornton .... additional animator
Alicia Traveria .... animator
Mary Varn .... additional animator
Michael Veroni .... animator
Lorin Wood .... animator
Mike Wood .... animator
Kathryn Yingling .... additional animator
 
Casting Department
Scout Masterson .... casting associate: Los Angeles
Beth Sepko .... local casting
Sheila Steele .... casting associate: Austin
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Melanie Armstrong Fletcher .... costume supervisor
 
Editorial Department
Christopher Roldan .... first assistant editor
David Gil Jr. .... post-production assistant (uncredited)
Ryan Gronquist .... post-production assistant (uncredited)
Charles Harrison .... editorial intern (uncredited)
Allegra Kolber .... apprentice editor (uncredited)
Kate Ridgway .... editorial intern (uncredited)
Yusef Svacina .... post-production assistant (uncredited)
Jessica Tong .... editorial intern (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Bruce Colson .... musician: violin
Jonathan Dexter .... musician: cello
Jason Elinoff .... musician: viola
The Golden Arm Trio .... featured performer: score
Erik Grostic .... musician: upright bass
Buzz Moran .... score mixer
Buzz Moran .... score recordist
Nic Ratner .... music supervisor
Graham Reynolds .... musician: various instruments
Graham Reynolds .... score mixer
Graham Reynolds .... score recordist
 
Transportation Department
Ronnie D. Chambers .... transportation coordinator (as Ronald D. Chambers)
Russell E. Scott .... picture cars
Jesus F. Tellez .... transportation captain
 
Other crew
Molly Ainsley .... additional staff assistant
Peter Atherton .... location manager
Janey Bergam .... assistant: Keanu Reeves
Shannon Blackburn .... production secretary
Dominic Cancilla .... production coordinator
Eric Cepeda .... additional staff assistant
Casey Chapman .... additional staff assistant (as Lauren Casey Chapman)
Erik Davis .... consultant
Gil Dean .... animal wrangler
Lisa Del Dotto .... assistant craft service
Wes Dixon .... additional staff assistant
Colin Edlund .... craft service
Sonia Farrell .... assistant: Woody Harrelson
Michael P. Garza .... title designer: end titles
David Gil Jr. .... additional staff assistant (as David Gil)
Leigh Green .... additional staff assistant
Erin Hagerty .... assistant: Mr. Smith and Mr. West
Heather Hanna .... additional staff assistant
Charles Harrison .... additional staff assistant
Marshall Hopkins .... additional staff assistant
Katherine Isham .... additional staff assistant
Marike Jainchill .... staff assistant (as Marike Z. Jainchill)
Tatiana Jitkoff .... additional staff assistant
Jesse Johnston .... executive: Thousand Words
Allegra Kolber .... staff assistant (as Allegra McCoy)
Sarah Lankenau .... staff assistant
Jonathan Lethem .... consultant
Stephanie Lewis .... executive: Thousand Words
Stephen Light .... assistant production office coordinator
Melody Lloyd .... set medic
Taylor Lovell .... additional staff assistant
Kirsten McMurray .... staff assistant
Morgan Miles .... production accountant
Jarrette Moats .... additional staff assistant
Kimberly Murphy .... staff assistant (as Kim Murphy)
Jubal Palmer .... assistant: Winona Ryder
Jennifer Ramirez .... additional staff assistant
Mike Reyes .... additional staff assistant
Jimmy Rich .... assistant: Robert Downey Jr.
Kate Ridgway .... additional staff assistant
Brandon Roberts .... additional staff assistant
Ryan Ross .... additional staff assistant
Brooke Satrazemis .... script supervisor
Steven Schaefer .... additional staff assistant
Scott Snyder .... additional staff assistant
Yusef Svacina .... additional staff assistant
Jessica Tong .... additional staff assistant
Sef Tsauousis .... staff assistant
Fernanda Valentina .... additional staff assistant
Dustin Weaver .... assistant location manager
Tara Weaver .... support staff: Woody Harrelson
Jenni Wieland .... assistant production accountant
Tracey Zemitis .... unit publicist
David Appelbaum .... office intern (uncredited)
Loreto Caro-Valdes .... intern: production office (uncredited)
Tai-San Choo .... office intern (uncredited)
Jeff Guerrero .... additional set production assistant (uncredited)
Sandy Lizaola-Hernandez .... physical production coordinator (uncredited)
Jamie Preyer .... location intern (uncredited)
Vernon Smith .... office intern (uncredited)
 
Thanks
Bobby Bates .... thanks
Louis Mackey .... dedicatee: in eternal memory
 

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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for drug and sexual content, language and a brief violent image.
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
100 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Certification:
Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Italy:T | Singapore:M18 (cut) | New Zealand:R13 | Argentina:16 | USA:R (certificate #42344) | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:18PL (DVD) | Brazil:16 | Japan:R-15 | Germany:16 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 (TV rating)
Filming Locations:
Austin, Texas, USA more
Company:
Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Terry Gilliam originally wanted to make a motion picture version of the novel in the early 1990s. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Barris is served in the diner, french fries are scattered over his plate. When seen again, the french fries are replaced with vegetable sides. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Freck: [on the phone] I looked them up. They're aphids. They're in my hair, on my skin, in my lungs. And the pain, Barris, it's unreasonable. They're all over the place. Oh, they've completely gotten Millie too.
more
Movie Connections:
References Catch Me If You Can (2002) more
Soundtrack:
Skttrbrain (Four Tet Remix) more

FAQ

What have critics said?
Which girl (Donna or Connie) did Arctor sleep with, and why did she seem to transform?
What happened to Freck?
more

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
121 out of 135 people found the following comment useful.
Gratitude, 29 July 2006
9/10
Author: mstomaso from Vulcan

Thanks to Rick Linklater and the Dick family for allowing a Scanner Darkly to re-envision Philip K. Dick's great novel without straying from its central themes and story line. Good film adaptations of literature are very often collaborative efforts between two or more artists - the writer and the director (and sometimes her/his production team). Make no mistake - A Scanner Darkly IS one of these collaborations - it is definitely a Linklater film - from the spare but very effective and hypnotic Graham Reynolds sound track to the disturbing but mesmerizing holosuit scenes and the pseudo-philosophical paranoiac banter between Harrelson and Downey's characters. In fact, I remember the last time I read Dick's novel - around the time I heard Linklater was directing this film - thinking that some of the scenes in the book could be lost in Linklater's wonderful film "Slacker".

Linklater and Dick are a perfect match.

The story is about a deep-cover narcotics officer (Reeves) who is in danger of becoming one of his own targets, since he has become addicted to a very popular and addictive hallucinogen - Substance D (AKA "Death") The cast is all very good, and extremely well suited for their characters. But here again, we are seeing Linklater's interpretation of the novel. He saw the comedic potential for the Barris character and played it up by giving the role to Downey and presenting Harrelson as a combination of loyal side-kick and straight-man to Downey's sometimes overpowering Barris.

What the story is really about is the culture of recreational drug use and addiction. Its portrayal of this is on target, and though the subject is treated with some sympathy, the contradictory messages, denials, and complex rationalizations permeating that culture also come through powerfully. In this manner, the film nails the book spot-on.

Reeves is perfectly cast as Arctur. His subtle and somewhat detached style is exactly what was needed for this complex and sympathetic character. And although some have stated that he was "blown off the screen by Downey and Harrelson" I couldn't agree less. Downey is louder and more domineering, yes, but Arctur is not a loud, ultra-dynamic, paranoid, and could not be played in a way which could compete with Downey's character.

Although I believe Winona Rider to be very talented, I had my doubts about her in the role of Donna - one of my favorite characters in Dick's novel. However, once again, Winona exceeded my expectations. I have never seen a bad performance out of her.

This is great casting, period.

While these are not criticisms, I feel obligated to make a couple of comments comparing the book and the film. First, the film is not really as dark and disturbing as the book. I can not explain why in this review - you will have to see it to understand why I say this. Second, I was very slightly disappointed by the reduced role of Donna in this film. Third - though some have commented that the film was hard to follow and that they felt they could only really get it if they read the book - I can only say that this is probably intentional. Yes, many of Linklater's films are non-linear and can be hard to follow for those who expect to have things explained to them. Linklater is, if nothing else, an artist and doesn't seem very interested in linearity or explanation. And the original work by Dick is no less ambiguous. In fact it is, in my opinion, more ambiguous.

This film does a great job of bringing to the screen one of the most intelligent and emotional works of science fiction ever written. My thanks to all involved.

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