Dick really deserves some first class documentaries exploring his remarkable life and personality- and this one just doesn't cut the mustard.
If you love Philip Dick, you already know these stories (which, the ones they get to, are very shallowly explored), and if you are unfamiliar with Dick, this, I can safely guess, will not make you very interested in looking deeper. The interviews are not very revealing, the audio clips out of context and thematically meaningless, his works are not explored, there was no access to persons, pictures, video footage that make documentaries worthwhile. There are animated clips that are annoying and last too long.
This film is not totally without redeeming qualities, just not enough to warrent a purchase; unless, of course, you would like to see extended footage of the librarian talking on and on about the Dick archives.
If you would like to get a deep look into Dick, I would recommend the intriguing book "Only Apparently Real" by Paul Williams. Once, Philip Dick had his house broken into and a filing cabinet/safe blown up. This book, which is a series of interviews, has Dick, in his own words, unspool theory after theory after theory about whom may have done it and why: the police, The CIA, drug dealers, Black Panthers, and even at one point, himself. It shows how his mind functioned, like a megacomputer on acid and amphetamines, staring straight into the void. Also recommended is "Divine Invasions" by Lawrence Sutin, a more traditional bio but very well written. Then there is "I am alive and you are dead" by Emmanuel Carrere which I have not read yet but is supposed to be very good.
We can respect the efforts and the intent of the filmakers, but the results just left me cold.
