Josh Jabcuga looks into a scanner darkly for all your vices as he continues his column on the top 5 most anticipated summer releases in this week's Squib Central.
4. A SCANNER DARKLY Squib-O-Meter Box Office Predictor: $27 Million.
There's no such thing as a sure-fire blockbuster in Hollywood. Marketing and advertising alone have caused budgets to skyrocket to the point where some studios only deal in two kinds of currency: art-house flicks and tentpole pictures. And those that suffer are the releases that fall somewhere in the middle, either due to budgets or hype.
Richard Linklater is the maverick behind what may be this year's perfect example of one of those films that falls somewhere in the middle ground: A SCANNER DARKLY. Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, Linklater seems to have captured the druggie-induced paranoia of the story by painting all of the actors (real, live actors) with that psychedelic approach that worked so strangely and magnificently in WAKING LIFE (2001). Yeah, there's a technical term (uh, rotoscoping, but that sounds too much like a dental procedure) for this cinematic special effect, and I'm sure the eventual DVD release will have a ton of making-of docs on it, but let's just say the visuals are freakin' trippy.
The Austin, Texas-based director has balls. This is the man responsible for SLACKER (one of if not THE film which ignited the '90s indie movement), DAZED AND CONFUSED, WAKING LIFE, BEFORE SUNRISE (and the follow-up BEFORE SUNSET), and the upcoming FAST FOOD NATION (check out that film's trailer on the Net to see some fine movie muckraking). Linklater not only feels the pulse of today's culture, but more often than not he is the man responsible for setting the rhythm.
So A SCANNER DARKLY is not exactly an event picture. With a Charlie Kaufman-penned script attached at one time, it's very much an arthouse film; however, with KEANU REEVES in the cast, many filmgoers may unjustly avoid the film. It's too easy to label REEVES' performances as being wooden. There are too many examples of good work to pigeonhole him. Granted, he does have his fair share of "Whoa, dude" moments, but it does appear his skills are getting more precise with age (see THUMBSUCKER, even CONSTANTINE, despite miscasting). Besides, if ever there was a film that would require KEANU to grant a total recall back to his BILL AND TED days, A SCANNER DARKLY would be the "Whoa, dude" one.
If you think I'd do a column featuring my opinion of the most anticipated projects of the summer and omit a Michael Mann shoot-'em-up, then brother, you haven't been reading too long, have you? Let me attempt to be objective here and start with the cons of this film: 1. The fact that this film is based on an '80s television show slash cultural phenomenon. Back in the day, Miami Vice was the shit. I've heard stories of Quentin Tarantino and writer/director-buddy Roger Avary religiously watching this show back when they worked at their infamous video store.
When I was a kid and I made my First Communion in grammar school, I begrudgingly went with my mother to the mall to get fitted for a white rental tuxedo. I succumbed only after making my mother promise she'd buy me a pair of sunglasses so I could look just like Sonny Crocket (yes, we have the photos to prove it -- lucky me). The problem lies in the fact that whenever people think of feature film adaptations of television shows, they think of CHARLIE'S ANGELS or BEWITCHED or CAR 54 or THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES or God knows what else brain fart Hollywood had at that particular moment. Why should VICE be any different, some audiences may be asking.
The second major problem with this film is star Colin Farrell. A fine actor, sure, but he is often overshadowed by his reputation. Known as being the party animal, his face graces tabloids about as often as Brangelina (or at least it did until a recent Farrell drought). I'm a fan of his work, but I know of many people who rank him right up there with Tom Cruise as far as being someone they just can't watch any longer on screen, because they see the persona of the man and not the performance of the actor.
A funny thing happened as I was pulling the films of Colin Farrell off IMDB.com. It struck me that despite this actor seemingly having been around forever, he really didn't make a name for himself until 2002's turn in MINORITY REPORT (a film starring Tom Cruise, ironically). And after that: PHONE BOOTH, THE RECRUIT, DAREDEVIL, S.W.A.T., ALEXANDER, and THE NEW WORLD. With only a smattering of releases in between those aforementioned films, perhaps Colin Farrell does show his face around the tabloids too much. Here is an actor who feels like he's been around forever, when in all actuality, it's only been about four years, and already the public is tired of him.
In the plus column of this film, we have a very large checkmark, that being the fact that it is being helmed by Michael Mann, the same director responsible for the stylish HEAT and COLLATERAL (another film featuring ... wait for it ... Tom Cruise). Michael Mann is a director who possesses a very unique vision: he is able to make things stylish, almost to the point of being glossy, yet at the same time, they appear to be natural, even subtle. THE INSIDER, featuring the antithesis of subtlety, Mr. Al Pacino (although I disagree with that wholeheartedly as I believe every move Pacino makes is calculated, and therefore, subtle in its own right), and Russell Crowe, is a showcase of a director who knows how to film a scene as it implodes, or perhaps more accurately, a director who knows how to capture the inner dialogue of his actors.
Does MIAMI VICE call for subtlety? Probably not. Will it be loud? Let's hope so. Early buzz on the street is that VICE possesses a shootout that rivals that of HEAT, which we all know is the benchmark for Hollywood shootouts (John Woo excluded, since those are mystical more than realistic). Point being, Mann will keep this project grounded. He does cops and robbers better than anyone in the game today. And this summer needs an action movie with a brain, and MIAMI VICE may be the movie to start a new, much needed trend.
