The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus rekalled...

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is the latest feature from Terry Gilliam and the last performance of the all too brief career of Heath Ledger. Another example of a troubled feature that had to make major changes to get finished. With the death of Heath Ledger part way through the production the story actually allowed for a novel way for the story to progress with different actors playing the Ledger role. Even with this novel approach the film felt unfinished and didn't make much sense, even for a Terry Gilliam film. The special effects were subpar but the art direction was up to Terry Gilliam's normal used universe feel. The bright point of the film was the performance of Lily Cole who felt natural yet had emotion when needed, surprising to me coming from someone whom I knew was a model going in. She turned out to be more than a pretty face. Over all, the film seemed to have too many focuses and assumptions by characters that didn't make sense. Not a film I recommend unless you want to see the last performance of Heath Ledger or how they dealt with it. I would just watch the Dark Knight again if you want to see Heath Ledger at his best or Brazil if you want to see classic Terry Gilliam.