[...] with each minute of screen time, it has delivered back all that pain to the viewer; in multiples, since the indie-heaven cast and the hand of Richard Linklater promises so much. Audiences compelled by professional obligation will be this film's most likely outreach, with those sitting in the middle of the aisles most likely to last through the duration. Commercially, "A Scanner Darkly" should be quickly remaindered to video, although on the upside, it may rejuvenate attention to Philip K. Dick's original novel to see exactly what inspired all these talented people to perpetrate this.

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