I’ve been anxiously waiting for the release of Philip K. Dick’s “A Scanner Darkly“. It garnered attention early on because of the the use of digital rotoscoping against live-action film.

I’m a fan of Philip K. Dick’s stories. I haven’t picked up a copy of this book yet, but I was pleased to see that his family believes it to be the “the first faithful adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story.”.

It opened on July 7th, 2006, a release limited to 17 theatres. The nearest theatre showing it was in Chicago, some 40 miles away. It opened at the local AMC theatre today, so Dena and I went to see it. We both went knowing about the animation style and the families support of the script but little else.

I won’t give too much away. I hate spoilers with a passion and I hate even more reviews that completely spoil the plot of a film. This is a dark and deeply thought-provoking movie. When the truth of it hits you, it hits hard. I now count this as one of the best movies I’ve seen in my life. The only thing that hit me this hard was my first reading of Johnny Got His Gun.

“A Scanner Darkly” may have earned scorn from some critics for its use of rotoscoping, but I predict that this film will become a cult classic.