A Scanner Darkly is a druggy tale based on another identity-questioning story by Philip K. Dick (others, if you're interested, are Blade Runner -- the best -- along with Paycheck, Total Recall, and most recently, Next). Directed by Richard Linklater and shot in a crazy style that animates the real actors...
...it tells a story set a few years in the future in suburban [heaven/hell -- you choose] Orange County, California. In a typical Dick-ian twist, Bob, an undercover drug agent (Keanu Reeves) is assigned to surveil his own house, in which he lives with 2 OC wastrels, both of whom do drugs. In this future OC, the agents' identities are secret even from each other -- which is how Bob gets assigned to follow his drug-doing self. Meanwhile, roommate 1 (Robert Downey, Jr) is a snitch -- and real dealer -- and roommate 2 (Woody Harrelson, so much more bearable in animated form) is a stoner. Toss in "the girl" -- another dealer named Donna (Winona Ryder -- welcome back, Winona, where've you been?), who Bob loves, but who may also be a snitch. Circles upon circles, and before long, you're not sure who's up to what, which puts you the viewer in the same spot as Bob and all the characters. The jagged animation enhances the paranoia and uncertainty about what exactly is real.
Bob loses his grip on reality as the Russian dolls continue to tumble out and ends up in rehab... which, in this future OC, is an even bigger -- and more sinister -- business than even the continued life of Lindsay Lohan would suggest.
Part paranoid fairy tale, part cautionary fable on how the powers that be who are supposed to protect us end up undermining the very security they've sworn to provide, A Scanner Darkly is not a laugh riot. But it is a twisty, confusing, dizzying, unnerving, and haunting ride. It features a great, spooky performance by Robert Downey, Jr, and interesting work from the [I think] underrated Keanu.