COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU ON JULY 7:

A Scanner Darkly
Grade: B-

Richard Linklater directed this uneven adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1977 novel, revisiting the rotoscoping technique he used in Waking Life to layer trippy animation on top of live action. The visuals are stunning, and the underlying critique of the war on drugs is intelligent and provocative. But from a dramatic standpoint the film is often inert, hampered by meandering dialogue and a flimsy premise about druggie friends who spy on each other to appease the government of California in the not-so-distant future. Keanu Reeves leads a solid cast that includes former burnouts Robert Downey, Jr. and Winona Ryder.