Full Review

The late Philip K. Dick's 1977 drug-imbued science fiction novel, "A Scanner Darkly" (Warner Independent), has been adapted for the screen with the same rotoscoping technique (the actors traced over with animation) that writer-director Richard Linklater used in the 2001 "Waking Life."

Though the visuals are somewhat striking, what emerges is still pretty bleak. The cautionary tale is set in Anaheim, Calif., in a not-so-distant dystopian future. Its central character is a police detective named Fred (Keanu Reeves) who goes undercover assuming the name "Bob Arctor" to investigate drug users James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson) and Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane), with whom he shares his ramshackle house. There's also his drug-dealing girlfriend, Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder).

Fred/Bob sometimes wears what's known as a "scramble suit" -- meaning his facial features are constantly morphing -- keeping his true identity not only from his cronies but also from his colleagues on the force.

He ultimately comes to discover that he's been spying on himself, a neat if confusing twist. Dick's plot (like so many of his other works concerning reality versus illusion) suggests that people are not necessarily what they seem. Dick is also saying something about the loss of personal freedom as exemplified by the authorities' intrusive methods of surveillance which include rigging holographic cameras in Bob's house.

These buddies value drugs -- especially the highly addictive Substance D, a paranoia-inducing red pill that causes split personality -- over their putative close friendship, and ultimately Barris informs on Bob to Fred, not realizing he is, in fact, talking to Bob underneath the scramble suit.

The cast delivers good performances, and Linklater's film is faithful in most particulars to the novel.

Drugs are presented as singularly unattractive, and the film ends on a somber note with a lengthy list of Dick's friends who either died or were physically damaged by drugs. But even if there's no romanticizing of the drug culture, the nightmarish milieu is almost unremittingly sordid and unpleasant -- some humorous banter among the guys notwithstanding -- and despite the animation technique (which adds a drug-tripping ambience), the film is surprisingly dull and talky. The opening sequence showing (presumably) imaginary bugs crawling all over Charles is about as lively as it gets.

The title is paraphrased from 1 Corinthians 13: "We see through a glass, darkly." Given the head-scratching complexity of the film's plot, truer words were never spoken.

This film contains pervasive substance abuse, much profanity, rough and crude language, partial nudity, premarital sexual encounters, disturbing imagery and a suicide attempt. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.