The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

In London, the sideshow troupe of Doctor Parnassus promises to the audiences a journey to the "Imaginarium", an imaginary world commanded by the mind of Doctor Parnassus where dreams come true. In the stories that Doctor Parnassus tells to his daughter Valentina, to the midget Percy, and his assistant Anton, he claims to have more than one thousand years; however, when he felt in love for a mortal, he made a deal with the devil Mr. Nick trading his immortality per youth. As part of the bargain, he promised his son or daughter to Mr. Nick on the sixteenth birthday. Valentina now is almost in the doomed age and Doctor Parnassus bets with Mr. Nick that whoever seduces five souls in the Imaginarium will have Valentina as a prize. Meanwhile the troupe rescues Tony that was hanged on a bridge by the Russians that explains why he had been chased and he joins the group. Tony and Valentina fall in love for each other and the jealous Anton discovers that his competitor is a liar.

Christopher Plummer is Dr Parnassus, a gentleman who years ago made a deal with the devil for immortality. while it seemed great at first, a thousand years later it feels more like a curse, especially when he is only 3 days away from having to "pay up"... the devil (Tom Waits) gets his daughter on her 16th birthday. Reduced to some sideshow freak attraction, Dr. Parnassus tries to lure people into his "Willy Wonka on crack" warped world. By doing so, he hopes to satisfy the devil in his quest for souls in order to save his own daughter. When things look their bleakest, they happen across Tony (Ledger), a man literally at the end of his rope, who brings a new attitude and life to Dr. Parnassus' efforts. This is the first film I've seen from director Terry Gilliam. There are some nice visual effects which definitely come in handy because the story lacks a little punch. If it wasn't for my interest in seeing Heath Ledger's final performance and how they worked around his death before filming was complete, I would probably enjoy this movie a little less.

This is an interesting film. Far from Gilliam's best and Ledger is consistent. For me Waits and Plummer steal the film along with the doe eyed Cole. Somewhere it seems the laces came untied on the script and it just became free flowing. I might attribute that to the death of Mr. Ledger. I was expecting 12 Monkeys or the Fisher King. This is neither.

***/*****

3/5 Stars