In the future, a camoflagued narcotics officer grows desperately addicted to the nefarious drug he's supposed to be eradicating. And there are other junkies, too.

Last time Richard Linklater delved into the world of motion-control animation, the result was WAKING LIFE, an indie-style experiment that some people thought was pretty darn deep. I, despite my general and long-standing affection for Linklater's work, did not. And now with his big-screen adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY, the filmmaker seems to have found a better marriage between source material and visual gimmickry.

In other words, DARKLY is a drug-centric flick that actually kinda benefits from the director's oddball animation techniques. Plus the gimmick helps out in aesthetic ways, too: Whenever A SCANNER DARKLY gets a little dry (and it will), you can just focus your eyeballs on the nifty animation tricks.

The plot's a bit tough to follow at times, but there's more than enough to keep you distracted here: Bizarre special effects, arcane conversations and revelations, and the combined presence of Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson. I know it's only the "mostly animated" versions of the performers, but the guys add a real jolt of color and energy whenever they hit the screen.

The flick is presented in a very fine anamorphic widescreen format, with audio delivered in Dolby Surround 5.1, which is also quite strong. Optional subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Fans of the flick will no doubt want to devour the feature-length audio commentary, especially with participants like Linklater, Keanu Reeves, producer Tommy Pallotta, Philip K. Dick historian Jon Lethem, and the late author's daughter Isa. Obviously you can expect the perspectives on the film to come in a pretty wide variety.

Also included are a pair of pretty excellent featurettes:

The 27-minute One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming A SCANNER DARKLY covers precisely what you'd expect: The filmmaking process.

Clocking in at about 21 minutes is The Weight of the Line: Animation Tales, which focuses on one of the film's most fascinating components: The animation.

Rounding out the platter is the DARKLY theatrical trailer.

A SCANNER DARKLY is destined to become one of those movies that college kids love to rent and smoke bongs with. I don't know if it's as deep as Linklater seems to think it is, but it's pretty cool to look at ... and pretty darkly amusing, too.