Radio Free Albemuth (2010)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Honestly? - Are the reviews here real, or are they members/friends of he film crew? I don't wish to sound indelicate here, but this is a truly awful film. It is a film made of a great story, but it falls short on so many levels. The acting is sub-par, the dialogue is tenuous, the action is moderately interesting and the visuals are woeful. I had been waiting for this film for a long time and like many other Dickian's, I relished the thought of a new addition to the world of PKD. However, this is by far, one of the worst adaptations that I have seen, yet. I am genuinely astonished that it has garnered 5.9, moreover though, are some of these reviews fake? I cannot for the life of me see anything of merit in these reviews, other than obvious bias. There is so much wrong with this film, I feel cruel listing them all. From writing to filming, from filming to post, from post to release - It is obvious that this film has had troubles from the start. I would implore Simon50 to keep hold of the rights to the novels that he has bought - And I would ask him to leave it to the professionals.

I found this to be a pretty amateurish and low-budget effort. OK, so maybe the director didn't have a forty million dollar budget, but still, this had very little artistic merit. There have been films made on the cheap that had artistic vision. Pi for instance. This has next to no artistic vision. The only interesting thing about it were the ideas, and they were courtesy of PKD. The acting was pretty bad all around. The guy who played PKD wasn't too bad, but the others were terrible. Especially Alanis Morrisette. How did she end up in this? Does she know the director or something? OK, so maybe the director is a PKD fan. So am I. That doesn't mean I should bust out my camcorder and record my dog enacting a PKD novel in my backyard. If he can't do justice to the material he should just sell the rights to the other two books that he supposedly has. I'd hate to see them given such shoddy treatment as this.

Just a few days ago I learned that Amazon Studios is making a pilot out of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, further proof that his work will continue to be among the most provocative and influential sci-fi around. But of all the adaptations I've seen, I think Radio Free Albemuth is the most thoughtful and comes closest to capturing Philip K. Dick's spirit. In an age where sci-fi consists too much of post-toy trash like Transformers, RFA is so refreshing to see. The casting (including Alanis!) is spot on, and I love Philip K. Dick's appearance as a character who wrestles with his personal beliefs and the impact of his writing. This is a film that isn't afraid of its ideas, and it deserves to be seen.

I really enjoyed this film. The performances by Shea Whigham, Jonathan Scarfe, Scott Wilson and Katheryn Winnick are all solid and ring true. Alanis Morisette is captivating as Sylvia (although she is physically different in appearance from the character in the book). Hanna Hall as the young right wing political operative Vivian Kaplan is amusingly subversive. Director/screenwriter John Alan Simon captures the mentality of the times (early 70s) about which Dick writes: The paranoia, drugs, perceived power of pop rock music to effect social change and the left wing politics. Although he moves the setting to the mid 80s, replacing the Nixon Era with that of Reagan, the issues still reverberate. The script allows enough space for Philip K. Dick's fascinating and fantastic ideas to breathe. I recommend this film. If you haven't read Philip K. Dick you will want to after seeing this film!