Review of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) by Tony B — 13 Dec 2011

As ever with Terry Gilliam, you never quite know what the hell he's doing - and Imaginarium is no different. The story is without confusion - an immortal old man with the power to bring people's imaginations to life bets with the Devil over his daughter - but the visuals are so utterly bizarre at times you won't have a clue what they mean; the fact they also look utterly sumptuous sweetens the pill, however, with the random and fragmented narrative grounded by a sweet performance by the great Christopher Plummer, counterbalanced by quite genius casting in Tom Waits as a crafty, playful Devil.

Lily Cole does little bar look pretty mind, Andrew Garfield sadly annoys and oddly enough Heath Ledger - infamously in his last ever role - feels miscast as con man Tony, it left to Jude Law & Colin Farrell to add more character to his bones when they assume the role (Johnny Depp only really gets a fun cameo).

So it's a very very odd little film I think, like me, you'll enjoy for the glorious visuals and it's sweet-natured feel, or you'll reject as a Gilliam curio. Either way, it's worth checking out.