MovieChat Forums > A Scanner Darkly (2006) Discussion > I'm sorry...I wanted to like this but it...

I'm sorry...I wanted to like this but it was so...SO...poorly written.

posted 16 years ago by LamontSmith
20 replies | jump to latest

That stolen bike scene was laughable but in the wrong way.

This movie is SO aware of itself that if it wasn't Rotoscoped, it would be completely worthless.

Everyone's AAAAAAAAACTING is so over-the-top that you can just tell that the director thought that seeing Woody Harrelson flail around in roto would be so cool without realizing that the story, dialogue and acting are pathetic.

Nice paint job, guys. Next time, try actually putting an engine in the car next time.

"Nothing can stop the American people when we are united towards a common goal." - President Obama

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Anakin_McFly 16 years ago

Keanu was terrible and about the worst actor I've seen

You need to see more.

other than Dicaprio.

I don't like DiCaprio but even then I find him to be a good actor.

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www.whoaisnotme.net

[–] morty_man91 15 years ago

Charlie Kaufman actually wrote a script draft for this but Linklater wrote his own script instead. If they had used his it would have been legendary. You can't fail with a Kaufman script. (He was the guy who wrote eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, being john malkovich, adaptation and synecdoche, new york) Also they should have not cast Keanu Reeves. With Kaufman writing and anybody but Reeves acting, it would have been epic.

You can find his script here: http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=86

[–] Anakin_McFly 15 years ago

Kaufman's script wasn't that different from the final film. Meanwhile, Linklater's one had the personal approval of Philip K. Dick's family, and many people consider ASD to be the most faithful adaptation of a PKD story thus far, for better or worse.

and anybody but Reeves acting, it would have been epic.

Yeah, because I like him too much, and the general trend seems to be: PKD story I like + actor I like = lousy movie; PKD story I don't care about + actor I don't care about + brilliant film.

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www.whoaisnotme.net/

[–] katielee648 15 years ago

Read the book. The bike scene was awesome. If you read the book and really got anything out of it, you would enjoy the movie. It's not a "paint job." It really was close to the book which I, amongst many others, thought was brilliant.

[–] ThePhantomReporter 15 years ago

Nice paint job, guys. Next time, try actually putting an engine in the car next time.

Well put.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] kenburke0627 15 years ago

I agree.

The plot should have been tighter, more action oriented, the conclusion more satisfactory.

Good animation alone does not a good movie make!

[–] saint665 15 years ago

To quote Jeff Lebowski, "well that's like, your opinion, man."

The film wasn't trying to be "action-oriented" and I actually liked the plot structure. The characters are whacked out on drugs, and when that's your life, you should expect it to be a rambling mess, which the story convays quite well in its own way.

It largely depends on what you want to get out of a movie. If you're expecting car chases, sex scenes, and things getting blowed up real good, then Scanner Darkly is decidedly not for you.

I'm a big fan of the book (which the movie is pretty faithful to) so I admit I'm biased; if someone other than PKD had originally crafted this, I'd probably be a bit harsher on it.

"I can't be the first person to have difficulty taking you seriously, can I?" - Arvin Sloane

[–] cancerparty 15 years ago

I have to disagree in every way with OP.
The nature of these guys' lives is extreme in every way. They have to talk and act in pronounced ways otherwise what you take away from the film: what was the big deal in what they were doing, it didn't seem to affect them much... Linklater has to show CONSEQUENCES for their behaviour.

Reeves in particular was outstanding, a man broken down and battered by this constant excess, and the dire state of emotionless suffocation his life has turned into.

As for the writing, if you can't see humour in great, almost throwaway, lines like Harrelson's caustic 'yeah, don't blame the drugs, man' when Reeves suggest they quit for a while after the car breakdown; or how about the poignancy at the start of Reeve's inability to peddle the garbage his superiors want him to batter out; the quick silencing of any dissention about the degeneration of the society (the arrest of the protestor outside the burger place); I mean I could go on and on.

And what's pathetic about the plot? That's just downright bizarre as far as accusations go. It's complex, multilayered - especially after the film's poignant climax in the cafe with 'Hank' - and manages to say something about the loneliness of our present, and the bleakness of our future. That takes talent.

Have you seen a better film about drugs, OP? I'm not on you, just interested.

[–] Pain-of-Salvation 15 years ago

'Requiem for a Dream'

But I agree with your post.

[–] akin-2-grieve 15 years ago

I prefer this to Requiem For A Dream - though that is a quality film too. But to be honest, though both obviously have drugs quite heavily at the heart of each, the films are really about quite different themes. Of both, I think Requiem For A Dream is probably more specifically about drugs in a way, if you catch my drift. Also, don't forget Trainspotting!

Finally, did anyone ever see a more ironic name for a thread : "I'm sorry...I wanted to like this but it was so...SO...poorly written." Talk about physician heal thyself!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] DoomCanoe 15 years ago

....

this movie is so un-believably deep when you truly study it. Please give it about 6 more watches and look for everything you missed.

its sad to see someone talk down a masterpiece because they only focused on the effects and comical characters