I saw A Scanner Darkly last night and thought it was worth seeing if only for the hammy delight of Robert Downey, Jr. But, I left wondering why Richard Linklater insisted on “rotoscoping” it, turning live action into animation. It’s a difficult process and not nearly as automated as I’d thought. The effect is definitely cool and trippy, but it sure is distracting: “I wonder how they did the hair?” “Why is the tow truck so realistic when everything else is cartoony?” “Does that really count as a nude scene?” It actually made part of the plot (no spoilers ahead!) harder to follow. Would it have been a better movie if it had been left unpainted? If not, does the paint mask flaws in its construction?

By the way — and this too is not a spoiler — our daughter pointed out that the quote from Philip K. Dick that ends the movie seems at odds with the movie’s thrust. Or maybe the movie is just too far out for a square like me. Daddy-o. [Tags: a_scanner_darkly animation movies philip_k_dick richard_linklater]

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