haven't yet seen "a scanner darkly," but i agree with your view on linklater. he's absolutely stayed true to his style and worldview - and the fact that he's so successful and respected proves that sticking to one's guns can (and will) pay off.

and even though flicks like "starship troopers" and "hollow man" are far cries from the greatness of "turkish delight" or "the 4th man" (and dare i say, "robocop"), i think verhoeven is a perfect illustration of someone who did (unfortunately) become a studio cog...yet, i feel he's always made distinctive and deeply bitter (in a good way) movies. i never got the feeling that he embraced hollywood and i maintain that he's been suspicious of his success after "robocop" and "total recall." "basic instinct" and "showgirls" are glorious pieces of trash cinema that neither the mainstream nor the indie crowd can digest...and i think it is sort of lovely that something like that could happen to a film. so, the point is this: i really, truly love linklater's work and verhoeven's work. no matter how different their career paths have been. such is a life in cinema.

I saw this yesterday and just loved it. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how faithful Linklater and Kauffman were, but the movie was so much more engaging and entertaining than the #1 Pirates movie I saw the previous night.

Well written review, Caveh. I also thoroughly enjoyed Linklater's cinematic adaptation of Dick's novel. I found myself laughing at the dialogue between the stoned out characters and ultimately was sad by the end, especially reading Dick's dedication to his friends who had been damaged by excessive drug use. The use of rotoscoping for this film was brilliant. I don't know how else you could have pulled off as effective a rendition of Dick's scrambler suit. I enjoyed the novel but found Linklater's film even better. Linklater is definitely a cinematic "hero" for me. He's one of my favorite film directors. I don't like all of his films but Waking Life, Before Sunrise/Sunset and now A Scanner Darkly, put him at the top of the indie film community in my book.

I saw it and, for the first time in a Linklater film, was a little let down and underwhelmed. The film just doesn't push the feeling of paranoia and drug-induced personality split far enough. It doesn't look like Keanu Reeves has split personality resulting from drugs, until he's told so. I wish the animators were given more freedom, like they were given in Waking Life. Overall, a very decent adaptation, but still more of an honorable effort on Linklater's part than a love from the first sight kind of movie.
I'm going to see it again sometime, to see if i like it better.

Linklater is my favorite currently living filmmaker. Well, Rohmer is my real favorite, but he's more of cinematic legend.
And of course Caveh, whose special kind of personalized documentary is utterly original and stimulating.

I too was turned off in the beginning, but found that as the movie progressed it drew me in, similar to Dick's novel. Probably as good an adaptation as you could hope for, but the book's psychological intensity and literary structure add demensions impossible to replicate in film.

What exactly do you mean by "hollywood" dark? Do you consider Seven or Mulholland Drive as "hollywood" dark?

i have been a fan of linklater for a while now, i was however recently stunned to discover that the world seems to have overlooked another one of his masterpieces 'waking life'. he is truly the voice of our time. i urge you to see this movie especially if you are currently suffering an existentional quandry. cannot say enough good things about it, and it is done in the same style as 'a scanner darkly'.